Developers looking to build an 800-home ‘garden neighbourhood’ that includes a new-to-sector filling station are already encountering objections to their proposals.
South Saxmundham Garden Neighbourhood is being put forward by property company Pigeon, which is seeking permission to build the homes, plus two new schools, a community hub and a roadside services, on a 155-acre plot of land that bestrides the A12 just south of the market town of Saxmundham, East Sussex.
While planning is only in the outline stages at present, the roadside services, which would serve both the A12 and residents of the new neighbourhood and be accessed by a new roundabout proposed for the main road, is slated to include a petrol station, plus a hotel, drive-thru restaurant(s), and EV charging.
The developers are already encountering difficulty with the roadside-services element, however, as Saxmundham Town Council “does not accept that there is any case for large-scale facilities on this site”, adding that the developer has not “demonstrated that a commercial development of this scale would be sympathetic to the character of the surrounding area”.
The council adds: “The proposed roadside services development offers no demonstrated benefits to Saxmundham or the Garden Neighbourhood that outweigh its potential detriments, at least without far more detailed assessment and justification”.
Saxmundham Town Council also wants a maximum of 500 homes to be built, rather than the 800 proposed, as this would better reflect the “capacity of Saxmundham’s physical, social and community infrastructure”.
