HOPES of finding fresh uses for redundant buildings on a farm at Waldringfield rest on how much traffic the new occupants will generate.An application has been made to use three buildings – two former pig fattening units and a brick livestock shed – for industrial use at 140-acre Cross Farm.

HOPES of finding fresh uses for redundant buildings on a farm at Waldringfield rest on how much traffic the new occupants will generate.

An application has been made to use three buildings – two former pig fattening units and a brick livestock shed – for industrial use at 140-acre Cross Farm.

The farm, which stands in the middle of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, was formerly a mixed livestock and arable farm, but livestock breeding and rearing has now ceased.

Views on the proposed industrial use of the buildings to enable the farmer to diversify are mixed – but hinge mainly on the traffic implications.

Waldringfield's parish councillors support the application, Martlesham's object – but both are concerned at the amount of extra vehicles which could be using the area's extremely narrow roads if permission is given.

The only route to the site is the C348, which has restricted visibility and is too narrow for two vehicles to pass.

Suffolk Coastal council's development control sub committee was told that the farm owners were willing to pay for passing places to be constructed, and also for one building only to be converted to industry as a trial run.

However, the county council said one unit could generate more traffic than the other two together, depending on what it was used for, and it would not alter its recommendation to refuse.

Councillor Patricia O'Brien persuaded the sub committee to make a site visit before making a final decision.

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