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A historic trackway in Haverhill must be protected in a development of homes for the over 55s in Withersfield Road, councillors have said.

Havebury Housing Partnership are seeking planning permission for the £3million project to knock down the 1960s bungalows opposite the Crowland Road junction and build a replacement for William Blake Court sheltered housing.

Both the bungalows and the sheltered housing are now said to be out of date and in need of replacement, but Havebury have also bought some derelict land behind the bingalows on which to build.

The two planning applications concern three-storey replacements for the bungalows,in a brick style in keeping with Withersfield Road, and a development of bungalows set in the trees on the other land across the river.

But an ancient trackway known as Occupation Road runs from Broad Street along the edge of the river and is a right of way which Havebury does not own.

Residents descended on a Haverhill Town Council planning meeting in numbers last night to protest about various aspects of the plans, including anything which might threaten the preservation of the track.

A vehicle bridge and a pedestrian bridge are shown on the plans as access to the site across the river, but Havebury's architects had to admit these had not yet been designed.

Residents wanted to see what they would look like and ensure they would not impede progress along Occupation Road.

They also complained that Havebury had already used the track to access the site for what the housing provider termed maintenance but what residents called clearance, saying mature trees had been cut down already.

Cllr Gary Stroud asked about wildlife protection and particuloarly dormice as a nest had been found there.

But Havebury had been told by a dormice expert the site was not big enough to sustain a colony successfully.

Karen Mayhew, chief executive of the housing provider, said there was £1million in Government grant allocated to the project, which had a time limit on it and would have to allocated away from Haverhill if the project fell through.

Havebury told members the new development would provide a good habitat for reptiles which was much needed, and there would be a 'no cat' policy in force on it.

Old apple trees which were not traditional species had been felled and would be replaced by Suffolk types, with just one traditional tree being kept.

Occupation Road was an old sheep track and would have had apple hedges on either side, members were told.

Residents asked about the height of the bridge. Barry Robbins, who said he used to walk along the track when he was a child, insisted there should be clearance for people to walk under any bridge.

Members, in their comments to the planning authority, St Edmundsbury Borough Council, asked for a condition of 7ft clearance, as Mr Robbins had told the meeting his son was 6ft 9in.

Residents opposite the sitre in Withersfield Road protested that they would now be overlooked into their bedroom windows.

They also extracted from the developers a guarantee that there would be no access to the site via Occupation Road for construction traffic.

Setting the footings for the bridge might involve equipment being craned over, but all access would be from Withersfield Road.

Members supported the applications but asked for a series of conditions as well as the bridge height, of access, tenancies for over 55s only and a traffic management plan for Withersfield Road during construction.