Today GODFREY SPANNER of Onslow Suffolk outlines why he is so confident SnOasis will be a success - and why it is being welcomed by so many people in the county

Today GODFREY SPANNER of Onslow Suffolk outlines why he is so confident SnOasis will be a success - and why it is being welcomed by so many people in the county.

“THEY said it would never happen.

THEY still say it will never happen. Wishful thinking.

When Onslow Suffolk announced its proposals at a public exhibition in 2003 the story was that when permission was given for the housing development Onslow would walk away and say goodbye.

Seven and a half years after arriving in Gt Blakenham, £17 million pounds later and the Secretary of State has accepted her Inspector's decision that the SnOasis project can proceed. And it will. It is.

There is always a 'THEY' wherever we as developers try to improve an area, a community.

THEY tried to stop the increase of passenger travel at Stansted.

THEY tried to stop the extension to Manchester Airport runway, Winchester Bypass, and many more important projects and mostly they are not democratically elected people.

THEY are not prepared to accept recommendations from skilled officers who the public employ and who give facts to elected representatives who then decide on behalf of the public what development o allow or not.

THEY fight a low budget, low cost, low quality opposition which does little but delay projects and increase costs.

THEY normally use disinformation and false claims but often THEY fail.

In the experience of Onslow Suffolk, each and every poll has shown consistently that at least 90 per cent of local opinion has been in favour of SnOasis and 10pc against or undecided.

We have never seen more than 200 people against SnOasis at any venue or 'demonstration' yet they have managed to frustrate what is going to be the future of Suffolk by at least two years.

Tomorrow, 18th November 2008, leading members of our 28-strong team sit with me to programme the detail design schedule, prepare for works to relocate the Great Crested Newt population and to agree the way forward to getting our builders on to site in the quickest possible time.

Sceptics suggest that credit crunch climate will have put paid to our plans. Our funders have been in place for years. Investment at this level is not a matter of months but of years. People in our business understand the ratio of risk to reward and the fact that we are not, contrary to hopeful claims, here today and gone tomorrow.

We promised to deliver SnOasis, a railway station and some homes. Concessions to local people, jobs, a contribution to a new school, new surgeries, a new Police facility and large contributions to local economic income.

We are about to begin this delivery.”

- Do you welcome the news that work is about to start on SnOasis? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk