Boxford residents ecstatic following refusal of planning permission for village development of 80 new homes

Villagers in Boxford say they are ecstatic that plans for 80 new homes in the village have been turned down by a planning committee.

The proposed development – for a mix of two to five-bedroom homes on a 14-acre site east of Sand Hill – was refused permission by a Babergh District Council’s planning committee last week by a narrow margin.

The application sparked a petition from villagers, with more than 140 people putting their name to the document.

District councillor Bryn Hurren, who represents Boxford on the council, said he was delighted the plans had been refused.

He said: “The residents in the village are ecstatic. There were around 40 people from the village who had travelled down to Endeavour House to protest at the plans.

“There were two main issues to our objections. The first was the highways issue of the narrow road through the village – we felt the highways report was just paying lip service.

“We were very disappointed with the Suffolk Highways report.

“Boxford is a difficult village even to drive through and the congestion is hitting our shops, too. The traffic is dangerous and highways do not seem to get that.

“The second was that there are no school places at the village primary school; they were going to have to bus any children from the estate out of the village.

“That is a serious environmental issue. We want our developments to be village-led and not foisted upon us.”

He added: “This was obviously a huge event for the village and its inhabitants, who fought hard against this very unpopular application.”

The committee voted to reject the application, by five votes to four.