Homes and roads plan wins backing
By James Fuller on Thursday, 24th May 2001.
A BLUEPRINT outlining plans for housing, road building and the environment in the Haverhill area has been backed by councillors.
Suffolk County Council agreed to adopt the Suffolk Structure Plan at its latest meeting.
The plan includes proposals for 7,000 new homes over the next 15 years in St Edmundsbury district, which covers Haverhill and Bury St Edmunds, and the building of the Haverhill Northern Relief Road.
Peter Thompson, council environment and transport director, said the county council had tried to "balance sometimes conflicting views to provide a lasting blueprint for the future of Suffolk".
He added: "It shapes ideas for the provision of new homes, workplaces, leisure and investment in transport, and provides a framework for rural regeneration and countryside management, while having a strong regard for the environment."
John Pitchford, council strategic policy manager, said: "There are pressures for development in the west of Suffolk, partly resulting from the continued growth of high-tech employment at Cambridge and the difficulty in building new housing there inside the green belt."
A county council transport spokesman said: "Work on the relief road, which will leave the A1307 at Withersfield Road, go around the northern part of Haverhill and rejoin the A143 at Wratting Road, is unlikely to be completed in the next few years."
The structure plan was considered last month by county councillors at the Sustainable Suffolk Theme Panel, which looked in detail at the results of two public consultations earlier this year.
Following the panel meeting, county councillors recommended that the county council should agree to adopt the plan.
Notices outlining the intention to adopt the plan now have to be published in newspapers.
A period of 28 days must then be allowed for the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, to intervene.
If there is no intervention, the plan will be formally adopted and copies will be placed in all of the county's libraries, Suffolk Connexions, at district and borough council offices, and on the county council's website, www.suffolkcc.gov.uk or by clicking on the "Web Link" button.
Suffolk County Council agreed to adopt the Suffolk Structure Plan at its latest meeting.
The plan includes proposals for 7,000 new homes over the next 15 years in St Edmundsbury district, which covers Haverhill and Bury St Edmunds, and the building of the Haverhill Northern Relief Road.
Peter Thompson, council environment and transport director, said the county council had tried to "balance sometimes conflicting views to provide a lasting blueprint for the future of Suffolk".
He added: "It shapes ideas for the provision of new homes, workplaces, leisure and investment in transport, and provides a framework for rural regeneration and countryside management, while having a strong regard for the environment."
John Pitchford, council strategic policy manager, said: "There are pressures for development in the west of Suffolk, partly resulting from the continued growth of high-tech employment at Cambridge and the difficulty in building new housing there inside the green belt."
A county council transport spokesman said: "Work on the relief road, which will leave the A1307 at Withersfield Road, go around the northern part of Haverhill and rejoin the A143 at Wratting Road, is unlikely to be completed in the next few years."
The structure plan was considered last month by county councillors at the Sustainable Suffolk Theme Panel, which looked in detail at the results of two public consultations earlier this year.
Following the panel meeting, county councillors recommended that the county council should agree to adopt the plan.
Notices outlining the intention to adopt the plan now have to be published in newspapers.
A period of 28 days must then be allowed for the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, to intervene.
If there is no intervention, the plan will be formally adopted and copies will be placed in all of the county's libraries, Suffolk Connexions, at district and borough council offices, and on the county council's website, www.suffolkcc.gov.uk or by clicking on the "Web Link" button.
Web Link: http://www.suffolkcc.gov.uk
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