MORE than 100 people who fear that a massive new 120-acre round-the-clock container depot would shatter their lives packed a meeting to voice their concerns.

MORE than 100 people who fear that a massive new 120-acre round-the-clock container depot would shatter their lives packed a meeting to voice their concerns.

So many residents attended the meeting at Stowupland's village hall that people had to stand at the back of the room as villagers spoke of their concerns that their homes could plummet in value and become unsellable.

The meeting comes as Mid Suffolk Council is considering whether to grant outline planning permission for the distribution container park near the Cedars Park estate, next to the A1120 at Creeting St Peter near Stowmarket.

If approved it would take five years to complete and include warehousing, container storage areas and rail sidings which developers say will create local jobs.

But the authority has been swamped with 1,000 letters of concern from residents - more than they received during the consultation into the £300 million SnOasis plan at Great Blakenham, near Ipswich.

Roger Willison-Gray, chairman of the Cedars Park Residents Association, said: “We at Cedars Park will vigorously oppose this and hope that we will be successful in maintaining our quality of life.

“My personal opinion is that the only person this will benefit is the landowner and that the sale of this piece of land is the object behind this.

Caroline Byles, district councillor for Stowupland, said: “It is said that this will provide a lot of jobs.

“But in the mid-Suffolk area the unemployment rate is half the national average, we have very low unemployment here, this is not a terrifically good argument.”

But a spokesman for Bidwells, acting for applicant SMMDP Ltd (Stowmarket Multi Modal Distribution Park Ltd) of Norwich, said the vast majority of freight is currently moved around the region by road, which is bad for the environment and leads to road congestion, and the new development creates an opportunity for a road and rail operation, seven days a week.

A spokeswoman for the district council said the consultation period is ongoing and is expected to continue until the end of the month.