Residents get chance to view plans for village

Villagers are being invited to three open days to find out what they think about future plans for Lavenham.

The village is one of the first to publish proposals for its neighbourhood plan, following a questionnaire circulated to villagers in 2013 by Lavenham Parish Council, covering a 15-year period to 2031.

One of the open days took place on Tuesday. The others are on Sunday in the village hall from 10am to 1pm, and on Tuesday in Lavenham Guildhall, from 5pm to 8pm.

Carroll Reeve, chairman of Lavenham Parish Council said: “Whilst there is a huge demand for more housing nationally, we have to recognise that Lavenham’s special character requires a very careful approach to future developments.

“There is scope for some limited further growth over the plan period, but the preference is for a number of small additions rather than a single large development.

“One of the aims of the plan is to try and meet the needs of villagers and enable more young families to live in the village with the emphasis on smaller, more affordable homes.

“This might also help older residents, who wish to downsize and stay in the village.”

She added: “As well as dealing with housing issues, the plan identifies a number of projects that are of concern to the village. Amongst these are the capacity of Lavenham’s primary school, the shortage of retirement accommodation and the ever increasing burden of traffic and parking issues. Not least of our concerns is to ensure that any future developments reflect the very special environment of Lavenham and the importance of its setting in open countryside.”

The plan is a pre-submission draft and can be viewed online at www.lavenham-np.co.uk.

Residents have until September 9 to comment on the draft plan with comments to lavenhampc@yahoo.co.uk