Ipswich council bosses have vowed to make the entrance to the Waterfront “something we can all be proud of” as part of its new million pound investment in the gateway.
The borough council currently owns the car park, and the former Burton and Beestons buildings, and is finalising a deal to purchase the Silo.
The local plan has earmarked the area for housing, but borough council leader David Ellesmere said all options were on the table in developing a “good public area” in what is a “very special part of Ipswich”.
“As soon as we have got ownership of all three [buildings] we will start to produce a masterplan,” he said.
“It’s allocated for housing in the local plan at the moment but we need to see what else we can have there at the site.
“Certainly it won’t be housing on the ground floor and I think it’s really important we get a good public area – that’s one of the reasons why we are involved, to ensure it’s something we can all be proud of.”
Alongside the £1m, a further £750,000 from the Public Realm and Roads Coastal Communities Fund has already been allocated for making improvements to the road network accessing the site – a key junction connecting the busy Wherstead Road, Key Street and Star Lane areas of town.
A time frame of when a masterplan will be drawn up has not yet been given, but bosses are hoping to complete the Silo purchase “soon”.
Terry Baxter, Ipswich Central chairman praised the public sector leaders on allocating a part of the money for the Waterfront, describing it as “very positive for the town”.
“We very much support the decision to use the funds in this way,” he said.
“It’s entirely in line with the Ipswich Vision strategy for improving the access to the Waterfront.
“It’s an area that people using our town particularly like and this is another step in our plan to enhance what’s already a very important part of our county town.
“I would like to congratulate the leaders for securing this – it’s very positive for the town.”
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