A town council has once again criticised plans for 150 new houses in Waveney Valley, suggesting the applicants are not thinking long-term.

Eastern Daily Press: Bungay Town Council. Picture: ArchantBungay Town Council. Picture: Archant (Image: Archant)

In December 2018, Bungay Town Council called an application for 150 new dwellings near St Johns Road 'cheap' as it could have affected bigger developments.

Suggesting that building 150 new homes on the land west of St Johns Road could stifle plans to bring businesses to Bungay and further strain already limited resources, the council called on residents to voice their opposition to the application.

Nearly one year on from the initial application, a new application has been submitted by ASD Consultants, which mayor Sue Collins has urged residents to reconsider.

She said: "Parish councils can only make recommendations, we do not have the powers of district level, but, we would strongly recommend the refusal on the basis of what we saw.

Eastern Daily Press: Bungay Town Council welcomed their new mayor, Sue Collins.Picture: ArchantBungay Town Council welcomed their new mayor, Sue Collins.Picture: Archant (Image: Archant)

"After initial plans were submitted, we gave a five page document identifying where we would hope to see improvements.

"We asked them to make some changes, which they do not appear to have embraced."

Mrs Collins suggested the current application would put too many houses in Bungay without appropriate infrastructure.

She noted while the application is for 150 houses, it is expected that another 300 would be built later.

"It's to do access to schools and bus routes which are critical. We would welcome the additional residential growth of the town, as long as the town was ready," she said.

"We are not against the houses, it is just critical it is done right. Going forward we are looking to 2036, a quite long term vision. We have consulted with experts, and our experts have taken into account national planning policy framework which this application does not consider."

Working with the government's neighbourhood planning group and infrastructure developers Aecom, Mrs Collins said the town council commissioned two reports on housing needs and housing design, which offers an alternative for how houses could be developed on the site.

Anyone who wishes to make comments on the application before a decision is made is urged to attend the next town council planning meeting on Thursday, October 17.