East Bergholt Parish Council Meeting 9 July 2026

Draft EBPC response to Babergh’s scoping consultation for the Joint Local Plan,
deadline for comments 30 July 2026

This consultation by Babergh is aimed to find out the key Housing development,
Infrastructure and associated issues that Parish Councils would like covered in the
scope of Babergh and Mid Suffolk’s Joint Local Plan. Most of the questions are posed as
tick box exercises inviting us to prioritise pre-determined core issues around developing
houses. The neighbourhood plan working group considered that all of these issues
would need serious consideration and so (a): chose what they considered the key issue
for each of the lists and then did not distinguish between other items listed, and (b):
concentrated core input on the scope on the few questions that did allow for free text
and original thinking.

In summary Babergh DC’s part of the Joint Local Plan has to identify sites for
approximately 15,500 new houses over the 20 years of the Plan, that is 775 new houses
per annum. This is a figure directed by government. It does not represent Babergh’s
housing need but rather it is an allocation designed by the Minister for Housing to
achieve 1.5m new homes across the UK.

Fundamentally the questionnaire asks us to consider if we would prefer these new
houses to be spread across existing towns and villages, concentrated on large towns;
or concentrated on a new settlement. The working group felt that the continuous
pressure on all villages and settlements to build would lead to significant loss of
countryside and green spaces and of the community values of villages whose
infrastructure would be stretched to breaking point with all the extra demand. They
recommend that the better option would be to build two new settlements of
approximately 5000 houses each with appropriate infrastructure and recreational
facilities. The other key consideration considered by the working group was that the
impact of all the new houses along our main roads (A14 and A12) is already
unacceptable. These roads have become unsafe as they are inadequate to carry all the
through traffic as well as all the new local traffic. Already these roads suffer regular
severe traffic delays due to accidents and congestion.

The working group recommend that a key consideration for locating new towns and
houses should be placing them close to main places of employment, that is mainly
Ipswich and Colchester, to minimise commuter travelling time and to take pressure off
our busy roads. In all cases we should be encouraging commuters to use efficient
public transport.

The other consideration the working group identified is that East Bergholt depends upon
tourism, connected to Constable Country and the two National Landscapes that cover
four-fifths of our parish. More houses both in our village and in our neighbouring villages
will detract from the green countryside that our tourists come to see and reduce
income for this industry. We have evidence right in our village of damage done to our
green spaces by non-sympathetic house-building which has severely impacted on our

characteristic tree and field scenes that were made internationally famous by John
Constable. We do not wish to lose the heritage, and the tourist income that comes with
it, that Constable recorded in his paintings.

1. East Bergholt Parish Council

2. N/A

3. East Bergholt Parish Council

4. What do you value most about the place where you live, work or spend time?

– The surrounding countryside and how the green fingers reach right into the heart
of our village so that every resident can see the seasons change and are within
quick and easy reach of our countryside and footpaths.
– The fact that we can walk right into Constable Country from our doorsteps.
Together with our neighbouring villages we live in an internationally renowned
landscape of the River Stour made famous by Gainsborough and Constable. In
East Bergholt we share this feeling of peace and relaxation with 250,000 visitors
a year who come to Flatford (the 3
rd
most visited tourist site in Suffolk) for this
very reason and they help sustain our tourist economy and wealth of hospitality
facilities.
– The sense of village community. Residents meet around our many village
societies and clubs which cover a very wide range of subjects. We are short on
open green public spaces (the third worst village in Babergh for open green
spaces) and our Neighbourhood Plan seeks to increase that as those areas we
have, though overcrowded, are highly valued by residents and visitors alike.
– Our village centre has been a very important hub where people meet and
commune in the local shops and facilities. We are highly concerned that the
village store (the old coop) which has been a central feature of the village for
over 200 years has been empty for over 10 months. The dispersal of people to
the edges of the village and the new coop have not replaced that community
meeting space, rather they are hindering its previous success.
– East Bergholt Parish Council, supported by Babergh officers, has put forward
proposals for extension to our village conservation area. The proposals cover
areas depicted in John Constable’s paintings and the views are not much
different today than the views that inspired Constable. We wish to conserve this
heritage and the larger setting, which has the added benefit of bringing tourism
income and jobs to residents of the village. We have a heritage to be proud of
and which forms a great escape for residents and for city dwellers.

5. What are the biggest challenges facing your area over the next 20 years?
– Lack of affordable housing for local people. We have a continuing demand,
consistently measured over at least the last 30 years, for approximately 25
affordable homes for local village people. The PC established a Community
Land Trust in 2018 to provide the houses required. Despite very strong efforts by
the CLT no affordable land has been found in the village. Although at least 75

affordable homes have been provided by 2 new housing estates, we do not know
of even one of these homes being made available for people with a local
connection because they do not reach the required level on the District
Council’s housing register. East Bergholt is a high housing price village, it drives
up the cost of both houses and land. We have not been able to find a solution for
our community so that families can live close to each other as the children go,
providing much needed support for older relatives and ensuring a diversity of age
and family incomes in the village to ensure a healthy self-sustaining population.
– Traffic through the village. More than 4000 houses have been built in the villages
east of EB, especially on the Essex side of the border in Lawford, Manningtree
and Mistley. This traffic makes its way to the A12 along the B1070 which travels
right through our village and past the EB High School. Traffic consultants
estimate this will cause a 57% increase in traffic adding considerably to the
accident risks at the High School, the blind junction at Straight Road/Gandish
Road and around the blind bends down to Cattawade.
– Poor public transport. The bus service to Ipswich and Colchester are
inadequate. They take in many small villages on their route to Ipswich and travel
along the congested A12 corridor to Copdock, so that the 15 minute journey by
car to the outskirts of Ipswich will often take over an hour by bus. There are no
buses from East Bergholt to the train station at Manningtree.
– Loss of our cultural heritage. The mass of houses detracts from our countryside
which currently permeates even as far as the village centre. Poor housing design
on new estates detracts from our vernacular architecture, which is of a smaller
scale with houses more widely spaced than many modern estates.
– Our sporting facilities are extremely stretched. We have one relatively small
playing field for 13 football teams, 3 cricket teams, a tennis club with 300
members, a bowls club with 100 members, which is also the location of one of
the largest and biggest village halls. `Not only do the pitches overlap, but also
the parking is completely inadequate. We also hire 1 football pitch from a local
charity and 1 from the village primary school. As more people join the village we
are unable to expand these facilities because of the price and unavailability of
local land.
– Both our High School and Primary Schools are full, with no plans by the
Education Authority to expand them. This has caused a problem for families
moving into the village who are unable to secure places in our local schools.
– Our local doctors surgery covers East Bergholt, Brantham and Capel St Mary.
The increase in housing across this area puts extra strain on the capacity of the
practice.
– We are the third lowest village in Babergh for open green public spaces (figures
come from Babergh’s evidence for the Draft Joint Local Plan).

6. What would most improve the quality of life in your community?
– Help to provide affordable houses for local need
– Traffic calming measures and 20mph speed limits
– Better public transport
– Increased space for sports
– Additional public green open space

– safe cycling routes in and out of the village
– additional school capacity
– additional GPs

7. What is the most important when planning for new housing and community
infrastructure?
1
st
= Protecting the countryside
Class all the others as equally important as they are all valid planning
considerations and it is a nonsense to classify them
= Infrastructure, design quality, affordability, access to transport, access to
services, biodiversity, jobs

8. What type of homes are most important to deliver in Babergh?
1
st
= affordable homes
Class all the others as equally important as they are all valid according to our
housing needs surveys.
= Older people, families, smaller, younger people, accessible homes
Least important is self-build homes as we have minimal demand registered in in
our housing need surveys

9. The government set a minimum of 28,000 houses to be built in Babergh & Mid
Suffolk. Where should future housing growth be focussed?
1
st
= Large towns
2
nd
= Small towns
3
rd
= previously developed land
There should be minimal allocations to large and small villages and previously
developed land

10. A new settlement is a large-scale development with homes, jobs, and supporting
infrastructure designed to create a new community. Do you think a new settlement
should be considered as part of the future growth strategy?
Yes. (not No or Unsure)

11. If yes, what size is appropriate?
5000+

12. All new developments will need to be supported by new and improved infrastructure
1
st
= public transport
All others classified equal as they are all important planning considerations
= Roads, cycle paths, medical facilities, schools, education and training,
employment and business infrastructure, community centres, leisure, sports,
cultural facilities

13. Which environmental issues concern you most?
1
st
= Landscape impact
All others classified equal as they are all important planning considerations

= flooding, biodiversity loss, water supply, climate change, overheating,
pollution,

14. What green spaces, landscapes or natural features are most important to protect?
– Flatford and the proposed conservation area extension July 2026. These are
internationally renowned historic landscapes painted by John Constable
– Our open fields and footpaths, part of the Dedham Vale and Suffolk Coasts and
Heaths National Landscape Areas. Two-thirds of East Bergholt sits in these
protected areas and the central area sits between these two Areas of National
Landscape, providing the setting for them both

15. What type of jobs and businesses should District Councils support in future?
– Tourism and culture. These support our local economy and jobs. We should
support art and craft workshops and studios and walking tourism, ornithology
tourism.
– Public transport. Other than tourism, education and a few local businesses the
vast majority of our working residents commute using cars. There is no direct
public transport to Manningtree Station, the bus journey to Ipswich takes over 1
hour as the bus weaves between multiple small villages. There is now no public
transport to Hadleigh.
– Local stores (Business rates too high)
– Educational. We have a High School (full), a primary school (full), 2 nurseries
(both full), Field Studies Centre based at Flatford, Circles outside school service.

16. Where should future employment growth be located in the Districts?
– Facilitate home-working
– good public transport routes to employment in London (Manningtree station),
Ipswich, Colchester, Manningtree and Hadleigh.
– Encourage shared local workshops, such as the Gattinetts, in converted old
agricultural buildings

17. What transport issues affect you most?
– Traffic and its growth of 57% in the last 5 years due to housing growth in
surrounding villages. This causes increased road traffic accidents along our
B1070 through the village and which bisects our village and which causes
problems for pedestrians in the built-up area because of narrow footpaths and
blind bends. It also causes increased traffic accidents in the country area
because of the high hedges and multiple blind bends. We have been keeping a
local register village of accidents involving police cars, ambulances and even the
air ambulance and have discovered many of these accidents never reach a
formal accident register. Accidents are much under-reported in our village.
– Lack of efficient public transport

18. How could transport connections be improved in Babergh?
– Run efficient public transport services, i.e. regular fast buses to Manningtree,
Ipswich, Colchester, Hadleigh.
– Plan public services that cross the Suffolk/Essex border.

19. Has this consultation been easy to understand and access?
No.

20. What could we do to improve future consultation and engagement?
You could start by engaging with us to understand our fundamental needs and views
from a village perspective, rather than prescribe how we answer the questions. Eg:
– You are asking us to prioritise many elements affecting planning for new houses
when all of them must be carefully assessed when building new communities.
We must take all of the single elements into account if we are to build healthy,
educated, working and cohesive communities. Villages should not be one large
dormitory feeding the cities and larger towns for those who have a car. To build a
productive community we must provide multiple local facilities within easy
reach of residents so that they can work and play together and build a
community that is sustainable and self-supporting.
– You are not allowing us to ask you to consider other aspects that we might
consider important – the survey is too systemised and restrictive.

21. Are there any groups or communities we should focus on in future consultations?
Parish Council, East Bergholt Society, East Bergholt Sports Council, East Bergholt
Community Council, EB High School, EB Primary School, Constable Country
Practice, National Trust, local pubs, cafes and restaurants (tourism provides a high
percentage of their income), Field Studies Council, Old Hall Community.

22. How would you prefer to be involved in future stages of the Local Plan?
1
st
= Parish Meetings, workshops, focus groups,
And all the other mechanisms too as appropriate (on-line consultation, virtual
events, drop-in events, social media)

23. If there is anything we haven’t asked in this questionnaire that you consider would
ensure a better plan for the District please add in free text.
We would like you to consider:
Built Heritage, asking how does the Plan affect this?
Environmental Heritage, e.g. our international landscape/tourism, asking how does
the Plan affect this?
“Sense of Place”, e.g. our unusual for East Anglia collections of tall native trees,
hedges and tunnel road landscapes, asking how does the Plan affect this?
We can give you a real example where the last plan failed to protect our “Sense of
Place”. We used to have a gentle tree-scaped entrance to our village from the A12.
The harsh red- brick, tall and out of character homes of the Constable Gardens
Estate has removed that and instead installed a harsh red brick landscape which is
unfamiliar to our village. Since these houses have been built we have received
countless messages and letters of sympathy from our neighbouring villages all
commenting on what they describe as a “blot on our landscape”. On the other
hand, we receive no such comments on the other big estate, St James Place, as the

white/yellow brick homes and landscaped green spaces between houses do not
form so much of a harsh contrast with the village vernacular.