St Stephens Church. The application to move the bressumer beam from the rear of Wilkinsons to the north wall of the church at shoulder height below the windows was withdrawn at the last moment at the request of Historic England. We have learnt that they require it to be removed but to be stored in a place of safety and not in a music venue in a position where it could easily be damaged.

James Hehir Building, University of Suffolk. It is proposed to change the use of the second floor of this building to an NHS Dentist Clinic as part of the BSc in Dental Hygiene course. It will be a five-day-a-week NHS, non-private service. There will be eleven chairs. This is good news for the oral health of Ipswich; dental schools have a good reputation for providing services to local inhabitants. However, one must ask how they are going to persuade the required number of dentists to work there.

2-4 Norwich Road. Another quart squeezed into a pint pot – a tiny starter flat at the rear of an unlet shop.

Horley Cottage, Lupin Road. Behind Park View Care Home and the Orwell Housing Association on Crane Hill, London Road are allotments (dating from WWI) and Horley Cottage. This is a derelict mid-20th century bungalow with associated outbuildings on a sloping site with access from Lupin Road. Peter Wells has designed, for The Orwell Housing Association, seven two-bed houses for affordable rent. To be built in a cream brick in a terrace of five dwellings and one pair of semi-detached houses, they fulfil minimum spatial requirements. However, while seven houses are within site density rules, the layout means all external space is all hard surfacing. To achieve a better plan, it would be better to lose one half of the semi-detached house and add some soft landscaping. Architecturally, the scheme, with its random artificial chimneys, is a hark back to estate cottages of the thirties.  As far as I can tell this is a windfall site, not being mentioned in the current Local Plan.

Elton Park Business area. A 0.76-hectare site has been identified at the north end of Elton Park, alongside the railway and reaching nearly to the Gipping, opposite Boss Hall. Though zoned for employment use, the site has no planning history whatsoever. The proposal is to erect eighteen commercial units. Despite its proximity to the Gipping, it is in flood zone 1, i.e. at a very low risk of any flooding.

Henley Gate.  Land behind the Crest Nicolson development on Henley Road. This small area has been transferred to David Wilson Homes. Their proposal for the layout, roads, landscaping and house design has received a mixed reception. This reapplication, after much consultation with the responsible planning officers, has resulted in improvement. The road layout is less devoted to the motor car with a raised paved central square to break up the main spine street; there are a few more trees and the window size has been increased. Nevertheless, the architectural detailing is mid-twentieth century, down to the false chimneys! There will be, in this two-phase development, 147 dwellings, all private. The affordable contribution will come from other phases of the scheme. There will be solar panels on the south-facing roofs and provision for air source heat pumps. Additionally, there will be allotments and a play area. It has been granted planning permission. The rate of building new houses will depend, as ever, on the market price of new houses – if it is up, they will build and if it isn’t, they will wait until it is.

Former Diesco site Hawke Road.  Formerly a diesel servicing works and a rundown playground, the site has been acquired by Handford Homes (IBC Housing company) to build twenty seven dwellings. The architects, Barefoot and Gillies, have produced an overall masterplan for the site which is attractive and safe. It is the first development from the Handford Homes Design Guide. This excellent scheme, a good contemporary design has been granted planning permission.  

Hutchinson Communications sought confirmation of their intention to erect a 20-metre-high green mast and three grey cabinets on  Ellenbrook Green. There is a 40-metre-high mast 500 metres away and it is very intrusive in its location. It has been refused planning permission; an appeal is likely.

The Suffolk Design Streets Guide  has been published and adopted by Ipswich Borough Council. I have read all 131 pages; it seems to me an Instruction Guide to Developers (and Architects) on how to design the street structure of new estates. To me, it is distinctly unadventurous and makes no new suggestions; written by old style highway engineers. Shared space should only be used for the most minor class of street, the tertiary; there is insistence that all vehicle routes are separated from pedestrian/cycle ways by a 120 mm high kerb.

The former Defiance public house  (closed in 1996). The developer has asked permission to raise the heights of the proposed blocks of apartments next to the River, by as much as 1.2 metres. Already approved, these blocks are not going to improve the view from Stoke Bridge and will be made worse by increasing the height.

We welcome two important appointments to the staff of  Ipswich Borough Council: Ms Helen Pluck, who has been with the Council for ten years has been promoted from Deputy to Chief Executive.  We wish her especially good luck in these trying financial times for local authorities and look for her dynamism to revive Ipswich. We also welcome James Mann who has taken over as Head of Planning and Development. It is worth noting that Ipswich now has a full complement of Planning and Conservation Officers. Additionally, at the top, Councillor David Ellesmere is retiring as Leader; his successor will be announced in May.

Mike Cook