Orwell Green Garden Village will become a thriving new community that will deliver a high quality, self-contained new settlement of up to 2,700 new homes, a combination of high quality market, affordable and specialised housing, business and community uses and extensive greenspace in a sustainable location.
It will be self-sustaining, with walkable neighbourhoods, wide tree lined and landscaped roads and a neighbourhood centre at the heart of the village, which will create a true sense of place. The neighbourhood centre will be just that – a centre for the neighbourhood to use and a hub for community activity.
The new Garden Village will include schools, a community hall, sport and play facilities, a health centre & pharmacy, cycleways and footpaths. The facilities within the village will be a high class mix of contemporary and traditional buildings, well connected through existing and new public rights of way, cycle paths, greenways and bridleways, meaning it will be an attractive and healthy place to live.
Orwell Green has the capacity to create a new community that embraces the needs of everyone including the elderly, young couples, working families and key workers wanting to live affordably in Suffolk.
Suffolk Coastal District Council and Ipswich Borough Council are currently preparing new Local Plans for their areas, which will outline where housing growth will be accommodated to meet the housing needs in the area up to 2036. Both local authorities need to provide for substantial housing growth during this period. It is acknowledged that both local authorities form part of the wider Ipswich Economic and Housing Market Area and therefore have interdependencies in terms of their future growth needs. It is also accepted that there are limited spatial options for growth given the tightly drawn boundary to Ipswich Borough, meaning that more housing is likely to be accommodated by its neighbouring authorities, including Suffolk Coastal District Council. Orwell Green has the capacity to help meet the housing needs of Suffolk Coastal District Council, as well as the wider Ipswich Economic and Housing Market Area. Furthermore, it offers an alternative to piecemeal development in smaller towns and villages that have perhaps seen a lot of unsustainable growth and expansion in the past.
It is clear from the feedback to the Councils Local Plan Issues and Options Consultation that there is a preference for development away from the smaller historic villages and market towns. Development on the edge of Ipswich along the key strategic corridors of the A12 and A14 not only takes the homes away from these smaller settlements but will also have minimal impact on the Districts unique beauty.
This self-contained community will be able to access services within the development without unnecessary journeys, therefore putting less pressure on the wider road network than perhaps more dispersed growth would create.
The Council is currently planning for housing growth to 2036. Orwell Green has the capacity to ensure that unnecessary and potentially unsustainable large-scale housing development is deflected from smaller towns and villages over this timeframe and beyond.
Furthermore, Orwell Green Garden Village will deliver much needed local affordable housing. Housing in Suffolk Coastal is now estimated by Shelter Housing figures to be eight times the average income in the area. One third of dwellings (up to 891 homes) will be affordable, providing the prospect of home ownership to many local people finding it hard to get on the property ladder.
The Gladman led consortium is working hard to ensure that this proposed development is included in the Councils revised Local Plan. It is inviting the Council and other key stakeholders to participate in the design, specification and delivery of the village so that housing provision serves those that need it. The development will ultimately become a long-term asset to the District and its residents. If you think that Orwell Green offers a good alternative to the developments proposed by the Council in its current plan, please do contact us on the details below
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A place that encapsulates the best of design and considers how we live now and our hopes for future generations. 
