Melton Hill Woodbridge ‘Attack of the Giant Cheese Wedges’
Highly respected Woodbridge Town Councillor Caroline Page highlights what the local people of Woodbridge are asking: how – and by what stretch of whose fevered imagination – has this consensus magically transformed into the below (current) plans for Melton Hill? Comments refer to the recenlty radically changed ‘Pre-planning Application’ to develop the SCDC Melton Hill Site
Local Woodbridge residents concerns grow as developers pre-planning application completly changes from what they were originally consulted on… “All old buildings, trees and even the Drummer Boy have been demolished, cut down and removed in favour of a giant 5 &6 storey cheese wedges – suitable for an urban setting – that will dwarf the rest of the town, impact adversely on National Trust’s historic views of the riverside and town from Sutton Hoo , alter completely and irrevocably the skyline of the town, and create a completely mendacious ‘piazza ‘ area pictured as a bustling metropolis with people dashing to and fro. Strange. After all, who, apart from residents, is going to be walking in this large open space, and why? We may suspect we are not in Kansas, Toto – but this is not Docklands.”
Concerns over lack of parking and who will be able to afford the ‘Luxury Flats’?
…“To top it all there is not enough parking allocated for the – greatly increased – (now there’s a surprise – how often does that happen in Suffolk?) number of residential units planned. How will this impact on a town already chronically short of parking , and where the District Council Offices have traditionally opened their car parks at the weekend for public events? And who will be able to afford to live here?”
If you are concerned please read the full Caroline Page article here:
Caroline Page Woodbridge Town Councillor
Woodbridge has one of the few low rise undeveloped beautiful waterfront areas that will be blighted by this high rise design.
It is not in keeping with anything else in the area and appears to be the only option presented – why?
The English Tourist Board in their London strategic planning department have years of experience/examples of sympathetic waterfront designs undertaken by other places both in UK and Europe – have any of the Councillors consulted them to check out what other places have done?
There are urban design specialists in this field who could give the council a presentation on visually attractive waterfront options.
The current proposal is based solely on high yield profit motive and needs to be challenged so that an alternative can be drawn up and put to the Councillors.
The proposed buildings look ugly and not in keeping with Woodbridge Town.
Why, when residents of Woodbridge are committed to upkeep the heritage and history of the towns listed and similar buildings do the council planners agree such a horrendous proposal for the old council site. It appears there are 2 rules here!
Dare we hope the council will listen and act accordingly to the residents concerns.
Why so big?
Why so ugly?
Why so insensitive?
Modern buildings can be beautiful and totally in tune with the surroundings.
The latest design (and hopefully not the last) for the former SCDC site look as if they have been created with the sole intention of being offensive.
For offensive they certainly are in every respect.
SCDC councillors must listen to the people they are elected to represent.