Should more development take place where transport links are better? This was just one issue raised at the public meeting held in Acton on Thursday evening to discuss the Core Strategy of the Babergh Development Framework.The meeting was quite well attended, and many good points were made.
If you were unable to come it is not too late to have your say. Please feel free to call me if you have any questions about what is being proposed. You can give Babergh planners your views directly by clicking on
(If you do so, I would be grateful if you could let me have your views too.)
All four parish councils in Waldingfield Ward were represented, and in addition there were over 30 members of the public who came to express their views or to listen.
There were a number of people present who wondered about the necessity of undertaking this exercise just now. If Babergh does merge with Mid Suffolk District Council, the nature of the exercise is bound to change. Additionally it is not as if there is any great hurry to find land at present, since at current housing build rates it will be 9 years before we run out of land!
All present seemed to be clear that, while some growth is acceptable and inevitable, the villages of Acton and Great Waldingfield need to preserve their individual identities, do not want to take a disproportionate amount of development in the future, and certainly do not want to become ‘satellites’ of Sudbury.
As far as development around Sudbury is concerned, many made the point that, given the poor road links and geographical position of the town, further significant growth here, rather than in other parts of the District, seems misguided.
Good points were made about the undesirability of gobbling up good agricultural land at a time when food supplies seem less secure than in the past, and also about the nature of development in the countryside. If anyone wants a copy of the meeting notes when they are finalised, please let me know.
I was personally very pleased to see residents of all the villages in the Ward getting together to discuss issues of common interest and concern. I hope that we will be able to repeat the exercise in the future when the need dictates.
