A PUBLIC inquiry will take place before a multi-million pound development project can take place at BT's Adastral Park complex at Martlesham.

A PUBLIC inquiry will take place before a multi-million pound development project can take place at BT's Adastral Park complex at Martlesham.

BT has put forward proposals for a 250-acre Innovation Park with university links, new community facilities, changes to the road network, and 2,000 new homes.

There will be a new primary school, hotel, allotments, shops, healthcare, leisure and sports facilities, public spaces and a central park with a Roman-style open-air amphitheatre for concerts.

Suffolk Coastal has already expressed its support for homes development around BT's site next to the A12.

However, it says there will need to be a public inquiry and it will be 2010 at the earliest before any house building work starts.

Council cabinet member Andy Smith said the next stage in the process would be for the cabinet to give its backing to the principle of developing the area.

“Any proposed residential development submitted as part of an application must be linked with this council's vision of the future of our district,” said Mr Smith.

“To date, we have only got as far as identifying a possible site for housing development in the Martlesham area to the east of the A12, and it will be at least six months before we will be able to confirm what the intended planning policy will be.

“Before then, we will be consulting again with residents about our Local Development Framework core strategy and their views will influence what will happen across our district generally, and around Adastral Park specifically.”

If cabinet approves the area for development next month, there will be further consultation. The council then hopes to finalise its draft strategy next spring, for submission to the government.

There will then be a public inquiry, and not until the independent inspector's decision has been published will the strategy finally become firm policy.

There will also separately be a public consultation on the plans submitted by BT but a decision is not likely until after the draft LDF has been agreed.

Ivan Jowers, chairman of the development control committee, said: “It is an extremely detailed application that will need a great deal of examination from this council.”

Do you like the plans for Adastral Park? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk