Council-owned Handford Homes wants to build 96 new homes, ranging from one-bedroomed flats to five-bedroomed houses, on land off Downham Boulevard behind the Ravenswood Primary School.
Of those new homes 67 will be added to the council’s housing stock for affordable rents, 19 will be rented out by Handford Lettings for market rents, and 10 will be offered for sale as starter homes – possibly to people in what are considered to be essential jobs.
A proposal to build 94 council homes on the site was rejected by the government in 2014 because it was seen to be in contravention of the local plan which said the area should be for mixed development – but officials are convinced the new bid will be acceptable.
MORE: Residents feared new council houses could change Ravenswood in 2014
It is a similar ownership mix to that on the former Tooks Bakery site on Norwich Road on the other side of the town.
The council is launching a public consultation on the proposals today with a planning application expected to be submitted in the early autumn. It is hoped that this will be considered by borough planners before the end of the year – and if it is given the go-ahead a contract for the work could be advertised in the spring and work could start next summer.
People can have a say on the scheme by visiting the website here. The consultation is open until August 26.
The first homes could be occupied in early 2022 and the development would be completed by the winter of 2022/23.
The £20m development will include:
27 one-bedroomed flats.
29 two-bedroomed flats.
Nine two-bedroomed houses.
24 three-bedroomed houses.
Two four-bedroomed houses.
Three five-bedoomed houses.
Two five-bedroomed bungalows.
Colin Kreidewolf, chair of Handford Homes, said “I’m proud to be able to reveal our proposals for this development today. Ipswich needs new housing and these designs are exciting and fit well with the surrounding homes – lots of thought has been given to a development that is sympathetic to its surroundings.
“We now really want to know what local people think so we can take their views into consideration as part of preparing our formal planning application.
“Our consultation process has been designed to ensure that as many local people as possible can take part – though we are of course unable to hold big public meetings or exhibitions because of the coronavirus restrictions.”
Conservative opposition councillors had supported residents who campaigned against the earlier proposal in 2014 – but are waiting to study the proposals before giving an opinion on the new scheme.
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