A VILLAGE could benefit from improvements to the main road linking it to Ipswich as well as gaining more shops and money for its primary school if a plan to build 500 new houses goes ahead.

A VILLAGE could benefit from improvements to the main road linking it to Ipswich as well as gaining more shops and money for its primary school if a plan to build 500 new houses goes ahead.

Haylink, owners of the former HMS Ganges site in Shotley Gate, have presented their ideas for the site to Shotley Parish Council.

The company is hoping to put a mixture of affordable and larger homes on the land, as well as 30 homes for rent with provision for another 20.

The company envisages creating a "village square" with some shops and small business units.

It is also proposing to offer a larger space to the Ganges museum, currently on the Shotley marina, as well as restoring a recently-discovered Napoleonic fort and a Martello tower on the site.

The buildings surrounding the parade ground of the former training school for boy sailors would be demolished but the famous mast, which is protected by a listing, would remain.