MORE disruption could be on the cards for Suffolk drivers travelling to Norfolk on the A140.

MORE disruption could be on the cards for Suffolk drivers travelling to Norfolk on the A140.

Dozens of angry families are today opposing plans for 60 new homes, claiming their village is already traffic-choked and the new houses will make it even worse.

Persimmon Homes (Anglia) wants to create an estate in Long Stratton but more than 50 letters of objection have been sent to planners.

Families want a block on the cul-de-sac development on a disused site north of Lime Tree Avenue on the grounds that it will make traffic congestion even worse.

They have been lobbying for a bypass around the busy A140 which runs through the village for 60 years but, although it has planning permission, the Government has not stumped up the cash.

The stretch is the most polluted road in the district due to the fumes generated by the thousands of vehicles that use it and villagers are worried a surge in car owners will make it worse.

The Evening Star runs a campaign battling road chiefs to improve safety on the Ipswich to Norwich link road called Make it Safe.

Despite the letters of protest and the area's parish council being against the housing scheme, officers at South Norfolk Council are recommending the plans for approval and a final decision will be made at a planning committee meeting on Tuesday.

The new proposals are for 60 one, two, three, four and five-bedroom homes, 15 of which will be affordable housing.

Andrew Lansdell, parish council chairman, said: “Our main concern is about the access to the site. We feel the additional traffic movements may well lead to accidents at that point. Although the new plans are preferable to the original ones, we still don't feel they have gone far enough to address our objections.

“We acknowledge that some form of development on the site is inevitable because it has been allocated for residential development, but we want a smaller number of homes.”

Alan Hadman, managing director for Persimmon Homes (Anglia), said: “Our proposed development is in direct response to an increased demand for new and affordable housing within the area.

“Our planning application complies with the local plan by South Norfolk Council, which states access to the site can be via Lime Tree Avenue. It has received no objection by the county surveyor.”

N What do you think should be done to improve the A140? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk