Purpose

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and the
Portfolio Holder for Planning will be asked to make a decision to
go out to public consultation on the Rowley Drive, Newmarket
Masterplan.
 
Report number CAB/WS/25/035 attached to this
Notice provides further information on the background and purpose
of the decision required.

Decision

Resolved:
 
That the Rowley Drive, Newmarket Masterplan be
approved for public consultation (as set out in Appendix 1 to
Report number CAB/WS/25/035).

Reasons for the decision

The Rowley Drive Masterplan outlined a
strategic vision for the redevelopment of Icewell Hill, Churchill
Court and Regents Court located on Rowley Drive Newmarket, as well
as public realm improvements to this area. The masterplan included
full scale demolition of the sites in a phased matter to allow high
quality rebuilding.
 
The area was located within the Housing
Settlement Boundary and therefore, did not need to be allocated
within the Local Plan as the principle of residential development
was acceptable. The residential units within the sites were mostly
in the ownership of Flagship Housing and used for social rent. A
small proportion of units were now in private ownership following
the Right to buy scheme.
 
Key features of the masterplan included:

•      
High quality, safe, affordable and warm homes across a range of
tenures that were well connected to the town, child friendly and
inclusive.

•      
A strong emphasis on sustainability, biodiversity and improving
green connections.

•      
A commitment to improve the sense of community and residents
wellbeing.

•      
Wider improvements to public realm with play equipment and roadside
landscaping.

•      
Extensive stakeholder and community engagement, with public
consultation aligned to West Suffolk’s Statement of Community
Involvement.
 
The public consultation would be for a six
week period.  During this period the
applicant would also be presenting their scheme to the Design
Review Panel to seek further independent design advice on the
proposals which would further influence the final Masterplan. Once
the public consultation had closed, a statement setting out the
results of this stage of the engagement process would be submitted
to the Council together with a final draft version of the
Masterplan. Upon approval, the final Masterplan would then be
adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance by West Suffolk Council
and would be used to inform the decision-making process on future
planning applications for new development that may be
submitted.

Alternative options considered

Given the scale and nature of the proposals,
no alternatives were available.