Felixstowe mayor rejects housing claim

Richard Cornwell

FELIXSTOWE'S mayor Mike Deacon today rejected claims that he wanted to see the historic twin Trimley villages targeted for major house building.

Councillor John Goodwin, who caused uproar by saying he had made a U-turn on the homes issue and then failed to vote in support of campaigners, said he had abstained because he did not wish to jeopardise the wishes of the Trimleys.

He believed voting for Mr Deacon's rejection of the houses “would have meant the two Trimley villages would have been at the full mercy of Suffolk Coastal” for large-scale housing.

Mr Deacon though said he had not intended the homes should be built in Trimley St Mary or Trimley St Martin instead of Felixstowe.

He said: “The motion I put forward stated clearly that housing growth should be equitably distributed across the whole district - the dictionary definition of 'equitably' is fairly and impartially, even-handed and justifiably.

“The aim was not to have all the homes in Trimley or Felixstowe, but to have them spread over a much wider area.

“Our area needs some homes, especially affordable homes, but so do other communities. I do not want the Felixstowe area, including the Trimleys, targeted for all the homes - they should be allocated fairly across the district.”

Mr Deacon said he was surprised at John Goodwin and his wife Angel Goodwin's decision to abstain but did not want to comment further on their actions.

Because the Goodwins failed to vote on Mr Deacon's motion, the town council agreed to accept 70 new homes a year and left the door open for large-scale countryside sites to be chosen in Walton and Felixstowe.

Mrs Goodwin said she got confused over what she was being asked to vote on and “mucked up big time”.

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