Suffolk county councillor Julia Ewart has challenged Saxmundham Town Council to explain why residents are being asked to vote on a revised plan on October 29, which includes the potential for additional commercial development west of the A12.
The amenities off the A12 are part of plans for the 800 home South Saxmundham Garden Neighbourhood and include a budget hotel, three drive-thru restaurants and a 24-hour petrol station and service area.
Councillor Julia Ewart had ‘a number of questions she hadn’t received satisfactory answers to’ (Image: Julia Ewart)
The outline plans, which have been submitted to East Suffolk Council, have received more than 200 objections.
However, Cllr Ewart said the town council had opposed the western development, but the modified plan contemplates circumstances in which it may proceed.
The existing neighbourhood plan – which sets out how development should take place – was only adopted in 2023.
She said: “There are a number of questions I haven’t received satisfactory answers to.
“This is a huge deal for the community and will shape Saxmundham for the next century.
“Residents expect their elected representatives to get this right.”
Although the East Suffolk Local Plan already allocates some employment land west of the A12, the application seeks additional commercial development beyond that.
Cllr Ewart said: “The town council says it opposes the additional western development, yet its own modified plan contemplates circumstances in which it might proceed.
“If the intention is to protect the countryside, why put forward a plan that considers commercial development there at all?”
She has also raised questions about the transfer of countryside from Benhall and Sternfield into Saxmundham, following a community governance review.
The modified plan records that the town council initiated the boundary change to ensure the Garden Neighbourhood would fall within Saxmundham.
Cllr Ewart wants to know how that decision relates to subsequent discussions with developer Pigeon, and whether residents fully understood its implications.
She is also seeking specialist planning advice on the consequences of adopting or rejecting the modified plan.
Cllr Ewart said she is not opposed to housing in principle but believes the future of the land west of the A12 should be openly explained before the referendum.
However, a spokeswoman for the town council said: “Saxmundham Town Council strongly refutes the inaccurate and misleading claims made in Cllr Julia Ewart’s recent press release concerning the South Saxmundham Garden Neighbourhood and the Modified Neighbourhood Plan referendum on October 29.
The Modified Neighbourhood Plan does not propose, allocate or support additional commercial development west of the A12.
“Employment land west of the A12 was allocated in East Suffolk Council’s Suffolk Coastal Local Plan in 2020.
“Pigeon’s proposed additional roadside services site was not included in that allocation and remains open countryside.
“Paragraph 12.7 of the Modified Neighbourhood Plan explicitly confirms that development outside the allocated area remains subject to the relevant Local Plan policies.
“It does not introduce a policy permitting additional commercial development.
“Pigeon had unsuccessfully sought to include the additional roadside services land during the Local Plan process and subsequently included it in its own masterplan consultation in late 2020.
“The town council strongly challenged this departure from the adopted Local Plan in its formal consultation response.”