The proposed sale and redevelopment of 389ha (961 acres) at the former Bentwaters USAF air base near Woodbridge, Suffolk, has fallen through.
This follows the council’s refusal to grant the Chris Parker Group planning consent for 550 chalets, a golf course, recreational lakes, a gun club and equestrian centre. Stephen Brown, the council’s Development Plan Officers, said the refusal was made on the grounds of AONB, traffic, noise from the gun club and wildlife conservation .
The planning committee did however, give consent for a second application by the firm for 535 houses,a primary school, a village centre and 5,703sq m (61,388 sq ft) of B1 space in the air base’s hospital.
But this is likely to fall through as funding from the leisure component was intended to help finance cleanup of the site. Neil Ward of planning consultants Neil Ward Associates which is advising the Chris Parker Group, said the agreement to buy Bentwaters from the Ministry of Defence for £20m had now lapsed because the full planning consent did not meet the deadline of 18 April.
Bentwaters, which is between Woodbridge and Snape, came onto the market in early 1995. MOD advisor on the sale, James Buxton of Bidwells, said that until the ministry had established the policy objections to the application and how they might be overcome it was too early to say what would happen next.
EGi News 22/04/96
