2-3 Friars Courtyard, 30-32 Princes Street, Jarman House 2-4 Northgate Street, 8 Great Colman Street.

These three applications illustrate the current trend to convert the upper stories of central town properties from commercial to small apartments.

Land adjacent to 3 Coytes Gardens. This is the third and most acceptable proposal for this site. Permission for three one-bed flats was given last August; they now wish to have one one-bed and one three-bed flats together with a small roof terrace, a lift, solar panels and air heat pumps (as they hadn’t started the build, new building regulations now require this). The exterior is unchanged.

Ipswich Garden Suburb. Application for a road bridge and a pedestrian/cycle bridge to serve Ipswich Garden Suburb including drainage, earthworks and ancillary works, and temporary haul roads and construction compounds. The vehicle bridge is to be 150 metre to the east of Henley Road and consist of a 41.5m precast concrete span on concrete piles. It will carry two 2m footways, one 3m cycleway and a 6m wide road. The pedestrian and cycle bridge will replace the current foot crossing west of Westerfield Road and carry a 33.4m pressed steel span on steel pillars. Access will be by stairs or by 1:22 ramps on either side.

Two construction roads will be needed, one exiting Henley Road and the northerly one already constructed. There will be an increase in traffic during construction including tipper trucks and cranes. Both bridges are utilitarian and are not things of beauty. It is a shame that the footbridge with its ramps will be so intrusive. It has been suggested  that straight ramps, to the 3.5m height required, would be more attractive.

7 Constable Road. The replacement uPVC windows for this prominent Victorian house are virtually undetectable.

Regent Theatre. The Regent is the largest theatre in East Anglia and is ‘a receiving house’ i.e. it receives entertainment produced elsewhere. From the date of its build, 1929, it has very limited and inconvenient backstage facilities. To make it more attractive to touring productions of all types, IBC have instructed KLH architects to design three modular units, linked to the grade 2 Manager’s Cottage to provide fully accessible changing rooms, facilities and catering areas, all linked undercover to the theatre. It will be in the hard standing area behind the brick wall in Woodbridge Road and will be largely invisible from the outside, apart from new signage. This is a sound and sensible development allowing the Regent to become a more attractive venue without impinging on its listed status.

2 Anglia Parkway North erection of warehouse. The previous industrial use of this site on a 24 hour basis was unpopular and has not been fulfilled. This proposal is for a medium-sized warehouse with six loading bays next to Graham’s plumbers merchants. As long as the working hours are reasonable, this is a useful employment scheme.

Eight similar applications for the replacement of BT Phone Boxes by ‘BT Hubs’. A BT Hub is a free-standing structure, 3m high, 1.25m wide and 35cm thick. Each side has a 75 inch LCD screen which will be advertising for 95% of the time, 5% being devoted to the Local Authority and the Community use, free of charge. They provide free outgoing phone calls, 999 calls, ultra fast wifi, power USB ports for device recharging and environmental sensors. The chosen sites are:-

Amenity Land Old Foundry Road. No objection. Replaces 3 BT phone boxes.

Highway land outside 56 Westgate Street. Unnecessary as there is an information standard nearby. Historic area.: No BT phone box. Refuse.

Highway land opposite 6 Civic Drive. This would be a distraction to drivers on an extremely busy road. An advertising screen on Theatre Square has been refused on these grounds.The existing phone box site would be better.

Highway land outside 283 Duke Street. Very close to the street and thus distracting. No phone box. Better site by the layby nearby.

Highway land outside Electric House.  No local objection. No phone box. Acceptable

Land adjacent to Waterloo House, Lloyds Avenue. Historic area. Refuse

Amenity adjacent to 19 -21 Neptune Quay. Position too prominent; should be set back from quay and nearer to apartments. No phone box. Refuse.

Highway land outside 46-48 Buttermarket. Inappropriate site. No phone box. Refuse.

114 Fore Hamlet. Handford Homes have commissioned Barefoot and Gillies to design a mixed size 30 flat development, all affordable for rent, replacing the Hope Church. In two blocks, the street elevation will run from six down to three storeys. It will be constructed in brick and masonry, the ground floor being ‘rusticated’. Adequate car parking with charging points to each. The existing plane trees on the site will be retained. This is a welcome and well designed proposal.

37 Berners Street. This grade 2 listed building, originally a house, then a doctor’s surgery and now The Lighthouse/Women’s Aid is proposed for conversion to six one and two bedroom flats. At present, only a small part of the building is in use. The conversion would not impact on the the very attractive exterior but there would be some loss of minor heritage detail within due to the previous users.

Closure of pedestrian through route from Silent Street to Turret Lane : This is part of a pedestrian through route across town. Some of it is in private ownership, is ill-lit, has blind corners, has no signage and is subject to much objectionable anti-social behaviour, both by day and night. Improvements could be made but the owners and the police would be much happier to see it closed completely. This has been approved.

Theatre Square. (The New Wolsey/NWI2) has been granted a RIBA award.

Mike Cook

St Clement spring clean

Our Sailors’ Church has had a much needed interior clean. The Ipswich Historic Churches Trust has brought in professional cleaners, Shirley Shelley, to give the tops of its walls, roof spaces and upper windows their first deep clean since the restoration of the roof following the disastrous fire of 1995. The dust and massed spiders’ webs can be imagined.

The Ipswich Society made a considerable contribution to the cost of the cleaning. A further £100,000 is needed for new sewerage and water services to enable the installation of toilets for the full use of the facility by the public.

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