AMBITIOUS proposals to create a new community between Martlesham and Kesgrave are set to be unveiled next week.The new village would be directly linked to a massive expansion of BT's Adastral Park complex which will change its relationship with the Suffolk coastal community.

AMBITIOUS proposals to create a new community between Martlesham and Kesgrave are set to be unveiled next week.

The new village would be directly linked to a massive expansion of BT's Adastral Park complex which will change its relationship with the Suffolk coastal community.

Exact details of the proposal are due to be unveiled on Monday, but it is believed the multi-million pound development will change the face of the area.

As well as the existing Adastral Park site, BT already owns a considerable amount of neighbouring land.

This would be developed as new business units, shops, leisure facilities and hundreds of new homes -aiming to provide accommodation for people working at Adastral Park and elsewhere in the area.

Adastral park is currently about 100 acres. It is owned by BT, which also owns a further 250 acres to the east and south of the area, including a quarry and agricultural land currently farmed by tenants.

The land includes small areas of ancient woods which would be retained in the new development.

It is also believed that BT is anxious to open the park more to the communities that live beside it.

At present security at the park is tight - any visitor has to pass through reception and be escorted around the site.

New technology means that such tight security around the entire site is no longer considered necessary. Eventually the high fences around the site will be taken down and each building will have its own security system.

That means that the restaurant and shops already on the site to cater for workers there could open to the general public, which would be especially valuable in the evenings.

As the park develops it is expected to do much more to involve education centres including UCS and schools from the Ipswich area.

The proposals have not yet been formally submitted to the planning department at Suffolk Coastal council, although it is understood that preliminary discussions have been held.

And bosses at BT are keen to gauge public opinion about what they would like to see at the site before any final decision is taken.

The key to the new development would be sustainability. Homes and new offices would be built with energy-saving devices included.

Cycle routes and footpaths would be created between the new homes, Adastral Park, and linking in with extensive pedestrian cycle routes in Martlesham Heath and Kesgrave.

Consultants involved with the Ravenswood Project in Ipswich have already been involved in the preliminary discussions - but all those involved in the planning stress it is a very long-term project.

It is expected that the full project would not be completed for about 10 to 15 years - by which time Adastral Park should be a science and innovation centre to rival anywhere else in the UK.