As the first houses on the 3,500-home Ipswich Garden Suburb go on sale, local councillors have warned that they could be obsolete within a few years because they don't meet high enough green standards.

Developers Crest Nicholson are about to build 130 "traditional style" homes in the first phase of their Henley Gate development on the IGS - but local Liberal Democrat councillor Inga Lockington criticised their lack of green features.

Ipswich Star: A CGI of Crest Nicholson's proposed homes at Henley Gate on the Ipswich Garden Suburb.A CGI of Crest Nicholson's proposed homes at Henley Gate on the Ipswich Garden Suburb. (Image: Crest Nicholson)

The new homes will have gas central heating - gas boilers will be banned from new homes in 2025 and most will not have solar panels.

Mrs Lockington said: "When the plans came to planning my colleague Oliver (Holmes) voted against giving permission because of the lack of environmental features.

"There has been a great deal of thought put into this development, it's a pity they haven't looked ahead and taken account of what was said at COP to develop something more sustainable - people buying these homes will have to retro-fit these features in a few years."

The new community is expected to take more than a decade to complete and will stretch from Tuddenham Road in the east to Henley Road in the west.

Ipswich Star: Crest Nicholson has described its proposed new homes as traditional.Crest Nicholson has described its proposed new homes as traditional. (Image: Crest Nicholson)

As well the new homes the Suburb, which will be split into three distinctive neighbourhoods, there will be three new primary schools, a new secondary school, business units and three local centres with shops and community centres.

The first homes are being built off Henley Road by housebuilder Crest Nicholson. They are building a total of 1,100 in neighbourhood between the road, the East Suffolk Railway Line, and Westerfield Village.

This part of the development, called Henley Gate, will also include a major country park to act as a green belt between the edge of Ipswich and Westerfield itself. The new homes, described as traditional by Crest Nicholson, will cost from £285,000.

A Crest Nicholson spokesman said: “Across the organisation, we strive to build homes with our consumers' current and future sustainability needs in mind.

“At our newest Henley Gate development in Ipswich, all plots with allocated off-street parking spaces will feature electric car charging points whilst ducting is provided to communal parking areas to enable future connections, in addition to a number of homes being fitted with solar panels.

"All homes will be built in line with the approved Energy Strategy and in accordance with Ipswich’s planning policy.”