Residents lose battle

RESIDENTS have lost their battle to stop developers from extending and revamping a treasured landmark.

The go-ahead has been given for the listed redundant water tower in Clements Road, Melton Park, to be extended and used as offices or a home despite protests from more than 30 residents.

Imogen Chappel, of the Clements Road, said: "We're very disappointed because we feel it is an inappropriate use of the building - it's a listed building.

"It's not going to be an attractive and pleasant place to live, none of the rooms are going to be big enough and the owners are not going to have any privacy inside, never mind us losing our privacy, it just seems like a real case of over-development."

Suffolk Coastal's development control sub-committee voted to refuse one application by East Anglian renovations to build a ground floor extension to the tower to be used as offices. This was refused on the grounds that there would not be enough parking facilities for the six office staff and subsequent visitors and that it would effect the residential amenities and character of the area.

Mrs Chappel said: "It's absolutely true, the parking around here is appalling, there isn't even parking for each house, our real concern is for emergency vehicles which will not have access."

However three other applications, which were for alterations of the listed building itself to be converted in to offices or a home and another application for a ground floor extension for a dwelling, were approved.

Mrs Chappel said: "It's a great shame that they decided to make that decision," she added that the proposals were over-bearing, unattractive and that they over-looked other properties in the residential area.

"The residents were so concerned that they were prepared to get together and purchase the building so that it could be left in tact as a lovely building, it needs very little maintenance – it just should be left as it is."