IF community leaders choose a new site on which to build the 1,600-plus homes needed for the future of the Felixstowe area, then fresh public consultation will be held it has been revealed.

IF community leaders choose a new site on which to build the 1,600-plus homes needed for the future of the Felixstowe area, then fresh public consultation will be held it has been revealed.

That was the pledge today from Suffolk Coastal council, which will not now make any decisions on where the homes might be built until some time in July.

It had been hoped to choose preferred sites for development by the end of the month but because of the huge number of responses from residents to recent consultation the meeting has been cancelled.

The council put forward five potential sites for homes - the most controversial being fields on the northern edge of Felixstowe and at Old Felixstowe - but also asked for ideas and suggestions on any other parcels of land which might be preferred.

One alternative suggested has been for a planned and phased stand-alone new village alongside the A14 at Trimley St Martin which could cater for homes needed now and in the future.

Liberal Democrats and Conservative-run Felixstowe Town Council are among those who asked for the idea to be examined.

A Suffolk Coastal spokesman said it was possible the council would choose preferred sites for development which were not among the five put forward in the consultation.

He said: “It is possible that the council will opt for a site or indeed sites that are not one of the original five - but if that happens then we will have to go out to public consultation on those particular sites because the public have not been asked specifically about them.

“Council planning officers have not yet completed even an initial analysis of all the 2,400 responses received.

“We expect to make the final accurate results public in July, and before then we would recommend that residents ignore any speculation on the results, however informed it may claim to be.”

The reassurance on extra public consultation will be welcomed by many groups and parish councils who were worried about the late suggestion of an extra potential major development area.

But the Trimley St Martin land may not be the only new site put forward.

Developers have suggested more than 220 acres of land in Felixstowe and the Trimleys as possible sites for homes and 72 acres - next to the A14 at Morston Hall - for potential business development.

Once councillors choose preferred areas for building, there will be further public consultation over the exact sites and the phasing of developments as the homes will be built between 2010 and 2024.

Where should new homes be built in the Felixstowe area? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk