Outline scheme is submitted by Hopkins Homes for southern part of Bury St Edmunds

An outline application for up to 1,250 homes between Sicklesmere Road and Rougham Road has been submitted to St Edmundsbury Borough Council by Hopkins Homes.

The Abbots Vale development aims to create a sustainable development to the south east of the town as part of the council’s Vision 2031.

It will include a relief road running between Sicklesmere Road and Rougham Road roundabout, a new bridge across the River Lark with improved access to the river and green areas, improved public transport with foot and cycle links to the town.

There will be a range of homes from one bedroom flats to five bedroom houses across the 68.6 hectare site.

There will be a primary school and playing fields, new public open spaces, land for a community centre, shops and services at a central market square and cycleways and countryside walks.

Each of the four phases of the development will be dealt with through separate detailed planning applications.

Flood risks will also be mitigated through sustainable urban drainage measures and a drainage strategy included in the outline application.

The Master Plan for Abbots Vale was approved in September and it is anticipated that work on the initial phases of the development would start in 2017 with the first 100 homes completed in early 2019. Phase two would see a further 400 homes provided, phase three another 300 homes with completion of the relief road and primary school. Work would also start on the market square. Phase four would see 450 homes built and the square completed.

The design and access statement says that the new relief road would improve traffic flows along Sicklesmere Road and at Rougham Hill while the development offers the opportunity to enhance existing ecological features including the river corridor, woodland and hedgerow areas.

The remains of the former Bury St Edmunds to Long Melford railway line and two World War Two pill boxes would be retained

The statement also says that the development will reflect the more rural aspect of the southern end of the site along Sicklesmere Road and the more urban sense of the northern end. Rushbrook Lane would be carefully integrated within the northern area with revised vehicle access linking to the new road. There will be a new roundabout onto the development in Sicklesmere Road.