CAMPAIGNERS today re-launched their battle to prevent what they claim are “unnecessary and unwanted” large-scale housing developments around the twin Trimley villages.

CAMPAIGNERS today re-launched their battle to prevent what they claim are “unnecessary and unwanted” large-scale housing developments around the twin Trimley villages.

Save Trimley Against Growth (STAG) is worried that proposals to build thousands of homes on the Felixstowe peninsula will mean most of them going on fields in the two communities.

Suffolk Coastal District Council said no decisions have yet been made about where new homes will be built.

The council has 389 suggested sites for homes - ranging from plots for one property to land for 3,000 - and will show these to the public early next year when it announces its own preferred option for future development.

But STAG believes councillors on the Local Development Framework (LDF) task group will recommend the “going for growth” option which would mean 2,720 new homes will be built on greenfield land around Felixstowe and the Trimley villages.

STAG spokeswoman Barbara Shout said: “This is a hugely important issue, not just for the Trimley villages but for the district as a whole.

“It is essential that the LDF task group gets it right, and to get it right they must use accurate housing figures, they must listen to the people who will be most affected by their decisions, and their deliberations must be fair and transparent.”

STAG is concerned that housing statistics being used to formulate the plans are at least three years out of date.

The group is also angry that of all the parishes in the district, only Trimley St Martin and Trimley St Mary have had their status changed.

It claims responses to the recent consultation on housing options from STAG and Trimley St Martin Parish Council were ignored but that it has now persuaded planning chiefs to give the detailed responses to every member of the task group.

The group is to attend every task group meeting to ensure the interests of the Trimleys are fairly presented and properly discussed.

It has also re-launched its website, and invited village councillors Sherrie Green, Graham Harding and Richard Kerry to make their views known on the site, along with MP John Gummer and task group chairman Andy Smith.

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