INTRODUCTION

12.1 The Grundisburgh Area, being rural in character, typifies the inland Suffolk landscape of rolling countryside and dispersed settlements. Within this landscape the attractive upper reaches of the River Deben valley and the River Fynn valley have retained their traditional grazing meadows and marshes and, as such, have been designated as Special Landscape Areas. The river valleys offer distant views which emphasise the need for conservation, and strict control of development. In addition to the landscape value, the area also consists of high quality agricultural land, generally of Grades 2 and 3a.

12.2 In terms of the built environment, the settlements of the Area vary greatly in size, form and character, from the smallest of hamlets set deep in the Countryside, to the larger villages of Grundisburgh and Otley. Despite their proximity to Ipswich, many settlements in the area have still retained their intimate and traditional character, even though some, like Grundisburgh, have absorbed estate-scale housing development.

12.3 Employment in the Grundisburgh Area is mainly provided by agriculture, although other small pockets of employment do occur in some of the Villages and in the Countryside, such as at Debach airfield. Much of the newly-built accommodation is occupied by commuters.

12.4 The area lies within the Debenham/Grundisburgh Policy Area, as defined in the Suffolk County Structure Plan. In recognition of the rural nature of the area and the location of the settlements away from the main communication routes to Ipswich, a restraint policy applies which provides only for the needs of the existing population, together with a very limited amount of inward migration, well below that experienced in the 1970's.

HOUSING

HOUSING REQUIREMENTS

12.5 The Suffolk Structure Plan (Incorporating Alterations 1, 2 and 3) does not include specific housing requirement figures for parts of the Suffolk Coastal District. It is, therefore, not appropriate to identify any strategic specific housing requirements for the Grundisburgh Area (see paragraph 3.9).

NEW HOUSING: SCALE AND LOCATION

12.6 Within the Grundisburgh Area, a number of settlements have been identified as Villages. The scale of new development appropriate to each Village will be dependent upon its individual scale and character. Applications for new development within the Villages will be assessed against the following policy:

POLICY AP209

Grundisburgh Area: Residential development in the Villages

The following settlements are defined as Villages for the purpose of applying Policy AP27, the appropriate scale of development being:

(i) Infilling only within the Villages of:

Bredfield (The Street)

Bredfield (Corner)

Clopton (Corner)

Cretingham

Great Bealings (Lower Street)

Hasketon

Tuddenham

Westerfield

Witnesham (Bridge)

Witnesham (Chapel)

(ii) Infilling, or a group of dwellings well related to their surroundings within the Villages of:

Charsfield

Grundisburgh

Otley

'Infilling' and 'Group' are defined earlier in para 3.5 (Part One). Within the physical limits there may be 'Areas to be Protected from Development' . The principle of these is outlined in Part One and the appropriate Policy is AP28.

12.7 The following parishes do not contain a settlement which meets the criteria set out in para 3.19 and Policy AP30 will apply in respect of new residential development:

Boulge	Hoo
Burgh	Letheringham
Culpho	Monewden
Dallinghoo	Swilland
Debach

EMPLOYMENT

12.8 The main concentration of employment uses is at Debach Airfield, where particular policies will apply to supplement the General policies in Part One of the Local Plan.

Debach Airfield

12.9 The airfield buildings at Debach have been used predominantly for light industrial purposes and for activities allied to agriculture. The site has created problems in the past relating to noise, amenity and lorry movements, and the Council is concerned about the level and type of uses which are carried out. It is important to ensure that, bearing in mind the exposed location and surrounding settlements, further intensification or new building does not take place which exacerbates the situation or creates new problems.

POLICY AP210

Grundisburgh Area: Debach Airfield

Proposals for land identified on the Proposals Map will be judged against the following criteria:

(i) the proposed development shall be within Class B1 or B2 of the Town and Country Planning Use Classes Order, 1987, or in any provision equivalent to these two Classes in any statutory instrument revoking and re-enacting that order, or shall be directly related to agriculture;

(ii) warehousing, storage (including large-scale agricultural storage development) and haulage uses likely to result in a material increase in traffic will not be permitted;

(iii) the replacement of an existing building will be accepted where the use will be the same as the existing use or will be in accordance with criterion (i) of this policy, provided that there would be no material increase in the size, or significant change in the shape, of the building;

(iv) no new buildings, extensions to existing buildings, or other development, will be permitted unless of a minor and ancillary nature.

In applying these criteria to the area shown on the Proposals Map, it is recognised that there may be circumstances in which limited additional parking and vehicle manoeuvring space abutting the physical limits may be justified, and individual proposals will be considered on their merits, including their potential impact on the open landscape.

The descriptions of 'Employment Use, for example B1 and B2, are given in para 4.9 of Part One of the Local Plan.

THE ENVIRONMENT

CONSERVATION AREAS

12.10 Within the Grundisburgh Area the following Conservation Areas are currently designated:

Cretingham

Grundisburgh

Tuddenham

The boundaries of these Conservation Areas are shown on the Proposals Map and the Conservation Area and other policies in Part One will apply. If and when financial resources are available and opportunities arise, the District Council will consider enhancement schemes in these areas.