Ipswich: Ravenswood council house row set to rumble on
Cllr Danny Maguire receives apetition from Bryan Patterson over concerns from Residents in Ravenswood about futire housing. - Credit: Archant
Members of Ipswich Borough Council were accused of putting their party before the good of the community after the borough’s scrutiny committee voted to carry on with controversial housing plans for the Ravenswood estate.
It intends to build 94 affordable homes on a piece of land next to Ravenswood school. This would include 70 council homes and 24 mixed-tenure properties where occupiers pay a mixture of rent and a mortgage.
Local residents are up in arms at the proposal – saying they would prefer to see a mix of tenures on the site, including some homes for sale on the open market, in a bid to retain the “mixed tenure” ethos of the rest of the estate.
Last week’s borough council scrutiny committee looked at claims that full information had not been given to the council’s executive before the decision to proceed with the development.
It was claimed that reports prepared for the meeting had not fully represented the level of concern about the proposed development – and opposition councillors called for the decision to be reconsidered.
However the Labour majority on the committee voted not to refer the decision back.
Richard Venning from the Ravenswood Residents’ Action Group spoke at the meeting, and said: “The council has still not addressed the concerns of residents.
“The amended proposal does not provide for the balanced community that the council’s own policy states is good practice.
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“This is how the rest of Ravenswood was planned and we are concerned that the success of this approach will be jeopardised by the current approach.”
Council leader David Ellesmere said evidence provided to the authority showed there had been more consultation over this proposal than other new council developments.
He added: “It still has to go through the planning committee (this month or next month) so there will be plenty of opportunities for residents to comment.”
