The Trimley Villagers Speak Out Against Large Scale Housing Developments

SAVE FELIXSTOWE

THE TRIMLEY VILLAGERS OPPOSE LARGE SCALE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS

When the Save Trimley Against Growth website was first launched we received hundreds of e-mails from residents expressing their opposition to the Trinity College “Vision.” We are reproducing a number of them now because the comments are just as relevant today - when we are battling the Local Development Framework Task Group Of Suffolk Coastal District Council - as they were when we opposed Trinity College, Cambridge.

The Trimley Villagers Speak Out Against Large Scale Housing Developments

Michael S - I came down here to live with my wife Barbara because it has for many years been a bolt hole of sanity when my family were living in a very stressful,crime ridden, noisy, polluted area. The first chance we got we moved here. The Trimley villages have always been my 2nd home until they became my first. I will not allow Bidwells to develop this beautiful area without putting up a heck of a fight. I urge anyone else who feels that these villages are very special TO MAKE THE EFFORT AND MAKE THIER OBJECTIONS KNOWN.

Phillip S - I have lived in Trimley St. Martin for 28 years, having been born in Felixstowe. I agree with all the comments of Gillian P but would add the following observations - Bidwells were happy to leave the land to farming whilst it was possible to make a very profitable income. Now the income is not quite so profitable and they are not satisfied. They now wish to find other ways of making phenomenal gains, in this case at the expense of the Trimley villages and their communities. This is totally unacceptable and is to be resisted at all stages. Greed should not be allowed to rule the lives of the local inhabitants who are happy with the current way of life here. Must everything revolve around money?

Denise S - I too agreed with Gillian P's comments and but also like to add that I have lived in Trimley St Martin for 28 years and for the first 20 plus years all the residents of the village did not complain that the only way to our houses from the Ipswich direction was to travel down the A45 (now A14) and almost double back on ourselves to get to our respective houses. However, because a few residents in Morston Hall did not want to travel almost to Levington to get to their houses the SCDC Planners in their wisdom thought to put a road running parallel to the A14. Trimley residents said it would be used as a short cut from Ipswich but were assured that it would not be by these planning experts. We have been proved right. Infact the situation gets worse almost daily. So please do not accept the expert planner's word when they say that the houses will not create any further traffic disruption to the villages. Remember the expert who advised Dr. Beeching in the 60's. He said that closing rail stations would not put more lorries onto the roads! Another point - if all this revolves around the expansion of the Port of Felixstowe. What if the market changes and containerised ports go out of fashion ??????!

Rebecca West, Trimley St. Mary

Well done for all your hard work on the site. I will be writing to every contact you have mentioned and any more I come across, plus will, of course, attend all meetings. This development has to be stopped, one way or another. Have just fired off the following angry rant to Bidwells on the subject of the development proposals and their nauseatingly lame 'sales pitch'. (I may get more constructive, when & if I calm down, but wasn't feeling overly polite at the time!)

To Bidwells: You want views of the local people so here, for the record, are mine.

Your proposed development is preposterous and it's true purpose - as a money-making scheme with no regard for the area or it's community - is so thinly disguised beneath the 'sales pitch' it is laughable.

The lies necessary to steam-roller this development through have already begun with your claim to have 'consulted Trimley St. Mary and Trimley St. Martin Parish Councils' when in fact the extent of these proposals was not revealed.

There isn't a scrap of desirability about any of your 'wide range of benefits':

Traffic calming? Only becoming necessary because of 7000 more cars using the roads. We don't want to negotiate your speed bumps and traffic flow systems through the congested streets you want to create.

Cycle ways, tree planting, sitting areas and 'other features'? Why do you imagine we want cycle paths and benches provided? So we can get a better look at the sterile manufactured surroundings you intend to construct in place of the beautiful open countryside we enjoy now?

'Other features'? Pehaps you could build us a reproduction of 'ye olde wishing well', or a mock tudor bandstand to compliment your fantasy image of what a rural village community should really look like.

Extended bus service? We already have buses in both directions every fifteen minutes, all day, every day. And already the first four morning ones in the week are packed to capacity. We cannot accomodate any more. It isn't feasible.

Buffer from A14 with 'planting and noise barriers'. A walled citadel perhaps? Maybe some ill-maintained fences? Or more characterless rows of unsightly, fast growing shrubs, festooned with litter and punctuated by the odd illegally dumped fridge. Lovely.

...'high quality development' between Trimley St. Mary and Trimley St. Martin would 'enhance the existing settlements'. In what way can further development enhance existing settlements? By replacing the open fields, woods and paths we enjoy currently?

'Public Open Space'? We already have public open space. It's called 'countryside'. Who uses a 'village green' (except as somewhere to let their dog crap)? Do you imagine we're all going to go for a stroll across it on a Sunday? That, perhaps, our children will dance round the bloody Maypole on it? We don't want your landscaped vision...your bark chippings and shrubs, your mock-victorian lamposts.

Create an 'enhanced and more characterful heart' to the Trimleys, based around the historic village core. A central green, a village square. You are talking about one village when there are two, very distinctly separate villages that do not share a 'core' and do not wish to. Besides which, you are proposing to build a town. The villages will no longer exist. How then, do you imagine they will 'retain their own identities' except in the names of the streets you'll have built over the real features?

A series of small local parks and playgrounds? ven the existing parks and playgrounds are vandalised litter-strewn no-go areas, fit only for gangs of teenagers to smoke in and graffiti. It makes sense I suppose. Thousands more kids will need somewhere to piss and spray-paint their names, after all.

I have seen your vision already. It is called Martlesham Heath - a characterless unsightly urban sprawl, with identikit houses and exactly the village green and square you describe. No, not exactly. You fail to mention that The Square is deserted. No business lasts more than a few months. Nobody uses it. The 'green' is a littered wasteland. The business units are constantly To Let. The crime figures are escalating and it is best known for it's problems with joy-riders and the muggings facilitated by the crazy network of tarmac paths that snake between it's high fences and walls and across it's deserted 'open public spaces'.

I know because I moved out of the once pleasant old Martlesham village after it's ruinous development.

Hayley Wray - I strongly disagree with the development in the Trimleys. I intend to go on living in Trimley St Martin and bringing up my young family in what I consider at the moment a very safe and pleasant place to live. Surely there are not that many people requiring that many house to be built? Where are all those people going to come from? No doubt there will be many people moving out of the area if the development goes ahead therefore leaving more homes to be filled? I honestly don't think the existing road networks could cope with such volume of traffic this would create if it went ahead. How can you then call it the Trimley villages? I thought a village was a small community. If I wanted to live in a town I would live in Felixstowe, Ipswich or Woodbridge. How much countryside do we have to lose in this country? We are all going to be living on top of each other before we know it - what will become of people's attitudes and moral's if we are to be hemmed in like animals!! Please do not let the building go ahead!!!!

Steve R - My wife and I moved to Trimley St Mary 4 years ago and have been very happy ith the quality of life we have enjoyed since. The arguments in favour of this development seem very weak indeed to me. Even if there is a housing shortage in the area (and I am not aware that there is) it is surely nothing like on the scale planned here. And surely Trinity College, who are already one of the regions biggest landowners, do not NEED the extra revenue that would be generated by this development. Already dock development has accounted for some wonderful countryside in our area. We must do everything possible to prevent yet more of our environment falling victim to the greed of developers.

Prock - This is our camp - get your own...When I was eight my mum and dad moved from Ipswich and we moved out at just the right time. When I went back to see my mates two years later the police where always around and they had become right little town Sh**s. As a boy growing up in Trimley I played over Stennetts, rode cycle speedway and played down the foreshore. We built tree houses with tool borrowed, and stuff we pinched from home without our dads knowing. (yeah right)Ed'. We would get polystyrene chunks from Scalextrics boxes and make rafts and paddle the dykes with tennis rackets in plastic bags. All of that land is now covered in containers and lost forever even after the protest by the residents in Station Road, Cordys lane and some of the rest of St Mary... I cant let it happen to the rest of my childhood playground over the back of Stennetts and over the back of Church lane and Thurman's lane where I not only played but had my 1st popper kiss !. It was brilliant, Jumping off the Fort in Cordys lane at the start of the invasion of Trimley by the Russians riding in formation up Cordys Lane to stop the attack, being shouted at by the signal man at the Train Station putting 2p pieces on the rail at the road crossing for the trains to crush. (Don't worry mum it was when there where manual manned gates). It was village life and character building. It takes a team of ten, eight to twelve year olds allot of planning, covert tool borrowing and having to work as a very well organised team to build a 70ft long B.M.X. track using sleepers as lifts, water jumps and ramps covered in grass to hide them near Trimley station without being found out by the Kirton crew. I learned how to socialise, make friends and resolve differences while breaking a teeth, gaining proper scars and learning about life. Where will our children play now ?. My mates in Town only had the ladies college to get chased by security, Alenby park dog turd throwing or petty theft from Woolworths. But in their defence there was always swimming near the raw discharge pipe, hanging around banging machines in the pier or needing counselling at 12 for theft for their fruit machine addiction habit. I was better of in Trimley so long as I had some where to play, take away the area for development and you may as well live in Walthamstow. I would have Trimley any day and I wonder what the future holds for the Trimley children of 2000+. I have never been involved in crime and I have respect for my elders and work very hard at my business and always look out for my mates around me. Was this due to my upbringing and environment - Yes...Since leaving home I have lived in the new houses in Valley Walk and often wondered what was there before and what adventures kids had on the land before they put houses up. I have also lived in a terrace near the sea front and found all that housing too much. I have also lived right on the Sea Front near the bottom of Bent Hill and the view out to sea every morning, sea air and the feeling of freedom out of the window was so nice on a Sunday morning and last thing in the day as the sun went down. I wonder how many other people in Trimley will loose a view like this or a place they played as a child. Don't just sit there - Put as much effort onto this protest as you did making that childhood project you just though of when you read the piece above - Do it for the kids of Trimley - You can make a difference - You only had your pocket money then - now you have access to information and better resources as an adult - do some thing good in you life - SAVE TRIMLEY...

Peter Phillips - May I first express my appreciation to the organizers of the Trimley vision event of 9th August, it gave people the chance to see for themselves the vision Trinity college has for our villages. Having looked at the plan I would like to go on record as expressing my objections to it. Whilst I support the need for affordable housing (which I notice is not really defined in monetary terms) I think that the proposal will destroy the villages and our lifestyle. Traffic and the associated noise and danger levels will increase dramatically and the new people will in the majority have to travel to Ipswich or beyond to work, further increasing traffic on the A14 and feeder roads. In addition the argument that the children of the Barretts estate are now looking for homes is flawed. In order to buy a home one needs to have money and a job. There is very few employers on the Felixstowe peninsula and hence people are tending move away to find work and not necessarily because they cannot buy homes locally. I would however like to add that I support the idea of modifying the Felixstowe dock spur roundabout and providing access to Walton at that point. It is something that is long overdue and would potentially be a major benefit to road safety.

John Shelton and Sara Fry - We are devastated to hear of the plans to build in the Trimleys. We have several objections, the wild life has already been disturbed by the Felixstowe docks growth, we feel this unique area cannot handle more population growth. There is limited space already and the lagoon that was created for the wild life has not been inhabited by the various species of birds etc that it was intended for. ore housing means more traffic. We are constantly reporting the speeding traffic along the High Road - near the access to the A14. We live in a 30mph zone but traffic flies passed causing a hazard to pedestrians and parked cars alike. There are no provisions in the plans to slow down traffic along the final section of the village speed limit. More traffic also means more pollution too. Not all people that move into the proposed housing will be working in Felixstowe and that brings into question all exit routes. Can the Orwell Bridge cope with more traffic, it certainly seems not on a normal working week day. We are against the proposed plans and will make sure our views are heard.

JE - Having lived in Walton for 7 years(ish) and grown up in Surrey, I have seen 1st hand the damage this sort of rampant capitalism can wreak. Suffolk has lovely countryside despite the lack of hills, but not enough of it. I'll put my skills as an ex tree surgeon and hunt sab' to use if required. Good luck to us all.

Guy Morgan - What can I say that has not already been said by the many emails/letters already posted on this site. Its just ridiculous to even consider these proposals from Trinity. I think both villages would benefit from a traffic management/calming system along the high road, but this is a totally separate issue from Trinity’s proposals. I note from their literature that they do mention this, however It is used by them as a promotional tool. Lets be honest, none of us are fooled by any part of their glossy blurb !. The position with the traffic levels was already an issue before they came on the scene. If their proposals are allowed to go ahead (even in part) then, in this modern age of 2 and 3 car families, the traffic problems will become much worse. My family and I happily join with the rest of our friends, neighbours & colleagues in the area to campaign against Trinity’s proposal to what amounts to the destruction of our villages.

Gillian P - Following the 'meeting' in the Memorial Hall, Trimley St Martin on 9th August 2003, my view of Trinity College's vision for Trimley St Martin is quite frankly beyond words. The proposals put forward by Trinity College will devastate this beautiful area. We need to keep the green fields that are left in the Trimleys to enjoy and help us to keep our sanity in a world which has become money motivated - because at the end of the day that is what it is all about, isn't it? We can't allow every space to be filled with houses - it makes for a very claustrophobic environment in which to live - no, I think 'exist' is a more apt word to use. We will have no wildlife left if plans like this are carried through. Our precious wildlife will become extinct. I read with interest Bidwells glossy coloured leaflet outlining these proposals. How can the traffic be reduced in the High Road, as stated in the leaflet? Another 3,000 homes could produce almost 6,000 cars (2 cars per family these days) using our already overcrowded roads. How can the proposal to "upgrade the main road through the Trimleys to make wider walkways, cycle ways, tree planting, sitting areas and other features" happen? Where? Lots of the old properties in the High Road are actually only a few feet from the road itself and we have to park our cars in the road. There's absolutely no possibility that this sort of plan could happen. Has anyone from Bidwells actually walked around the area? It seems unlikely. I feel that Trinity College have squeezed enough out of our environment with the building work that has taken place and the vast expansion of the docks. Just let us enjoy what is left. It must be apparent how almost everyone feels. This is a very interesting and historic area and should be left alone to retain some of it's identity. We enjoy living here and feel safe to walk the streets and open spaces. It is rare in this day and age to feel safe anywhere. We may not with such a large influx of people. I know Mr Prestcott, in keeping with our present destructive labour government, is pressing for millions of houses to be built countrywide. The northern towns are empty because of lack of work, and there are streets of houses boarded up because nobody wants to live there. Surely some investment in industry in this area would help to fill the houses already standing empty. Well, there's not enough work for the thousands of people who will be invading this area either - so maybe a large number of these houses will remain empty too. Or will it become a dumping ground for all the asylum seekers trying to become residents in our country. Many of the new houses built on Ipswich Airfield were not sold and this is exactly what happened there. Great news. We lose our countryside only to house foreigners who we are being forced to finance! When I was a youngster and I had an important decision to make, my parents advised that I should write down the fors and againsts and it would help me make the right decision. It worked. Let's do it for Trinity and perhaps it will enable the planners to make the right decision too.

FOR

·	To make even more money for Trinity College.

·	To make Mr Prestcott happy.

AGAINST

·	Destroy the countryside and the lives of the people who live here.

·	Destroy our wildlife.

·	Make the roads busier and more dangerous.

·	Increase crime in the area.

·	Dramatically increase pressure on our health services i.e. dentists, doctors and hospitals.

·	The police and fire service will not cope. All these services are already inadequate for our residents.

·	The schools will not cope, even with a new primary school. What happens when children reach 11? Already my 8 year old granddaughter has the prospect of being in a class of 38 children when she goes back to Trimley St Mary school next September!

·	Shall I go on? I don't think so. It doesn't take a mastermind to see that the decision is crystal clear - a foregone conclusions.

NO LARGE SCALE BUILDING IN THE TRIMLEYS - NOT NOW & NOT IN THE FUTURE.

I think the effort made by Bidwells, on 9th August at the Memoral Hall, was pathetic. When such an enormous project has been proposed, involving thousands of people, I feel a more professional attitude should have been adopted by Bidwells to give, at least, a personal presentation to the vast number of residents present on that day. The people who arrived at that venue expected far more information than that available at the Post Office or Library. Mr. Collins did his best, but was so outnumbered he could not hope to cope. I had warned him to expect a huge crowd when he telephoned me in response to my letter published in the Evening Star last week. So he was aware. I consider a proper public meeting should be arranged where Bidwells can come up with some answers for the many questions that people have been unable to ask as yet. The residents of Trimley St Martin care about their village and should be shown some respect by Bidwells.

G.Bremner Mimgt M IDM - I would like a response to the following aspects contained in the Planning Framework document:-

1. I believe the scale used to represent the proposed new development is misleading and that actual housing densities will be much more in line with existing developments at Trimley St Martin and Trimley St Mary. As such I feel that all illustrative guides should be in context with actual housing and population sizes proposed.(3000 houses etc...)

2. There is much emphasis placed on employment creation to support the influx of population yet very little representation of the impact,size,scope and location of such proposed industrial/commercial developments and their proximity to existing residential developments. This again needs to be addressed in your documentation for public scrutiny.

3.If the Port of Felixstowe continues to expand, where physically will that expansion take place to support a residential increase of this nature? The Port of Felixstowe are actively looking at ways of reducing local labour and replacing with ships crews so even if proposed expansion levels take place the creation of 400 jobs will not support 3000 homes. There is also no guarantee that residents in these area's will secure these jobs, be offered these jobs or have the necessary skills for these jobs. As such more labour will come into the area from outside with the additional inflow and outflow of people living in the proposed residential developments travelling to and from work.

4. Felixstowe and its peninsula is not primarily a development area for new affordable housing. It serves a different market profile of retired and professional people looking for a lifestyle outside of large-scale urban development It has already contributed significantly to this type of estate housing development at three sites in the area at Trimley St Mary, Trimley St Martin and the estate at Safeway's nr the Port.

Felixstowe and its peninsula has as much importance to an aging baby boomer population as new housing developments for young first time buyers. As such their protection is as important as is the creation of these new developments.

5. What impact will these new developments have on the prices of existing properties within the region in particular the larger and older period properties centred around the historic village core. We would look for independent valuations both pre and post development to calculate potential financial devaluations.

6.What consideration is being given for the loss of amenity to existing residents in the Trimleys as a result of losing the open spaces, light and noise levels that currently make up the appeal and attraction of the Trimleys as a place within which to live?

7.What consideration is being given to the loss of amenity to local residents by being effectively ring fenced by construction works for several years.

In our considered opinion this area is not suitable for these proposals and as such must be opposed vigorously. If new housing development is urgently needed then it should be centred around Ipswich with its aspirations for future City status, its far better road and rail links and employment opportunities. Felixstowe and its peninsula should remain as it is which is primarily an area for retired and mature families looking for a different lifestyle. As the baby boomer ages the demand for this type of residential location is as important perhaps even more so than area's for new affordable housing. The impact of this development on the character and nature of the regions environment would be nothing short of catastrophic and the increased footfall and traffic flows would irreparably harm the natural environment that currently exists. This must not be allowed to happen because once gone it will be gone forever and the regions character will be swallowed up by yet another spread of urbanisation that is eroding the legacy of natural beauty that we all are privileged to enjoy and which already attracts many people into the area.

Dennis (1931) to (2003) - Having been born in the village of St. Martin and having seen many changes over the years, this one I think in my opinion will be the ruin of both the villages. ie: where do they anticipate the flow of traffic? This I must say takes the biscuit.

Cynthia and Ron - We sincerely hope that all the village will pull together to save Trimley from becoming an extension of Felixstowe. We want to continue living in a village especially one as nice as this!

Colin Monk - Trimley St Mary (since 1976) - A development too far. On reading the glossy pamphlet produced by Bidwells I was staggered by the arrogance of the authors in knowing what’s best for the villages without early reference to the residents. It’s reasonable to think that their "long-term vision for the Felixstowe Peninsula" is going to be radically different to ours. The consultants have been paid, the plans are drawn – better ask the residents what they think! I dare say all those against the proposed master plan will be branded as NIMBYs but I feel that over the years the Trimley villages have had to suffer the consequences of developments creeping into our area, mostly from recent phases of ‘Felixstowe’ Port expansion – all in the Trimley area. As a result we now have to endure the increased pollution from light, noise and increased road and rail movements. The Trimley villages are being asked to host "the additional housing demanded by the likely growth of the Port and additional businesses" (I didn’t realise such a major expansion was envisaged) in return for benefits we either don’t need or would get anyway. It’s interesting to note that facilities for the youth of the community - other than kiddies playgrounds and village greens - don’t get a mention. I consider this proposal to be no more than another example of Bidwells carrying out its prime function of maximising the return on the Trinity College land it administers. We have suffered enough from the slow but obvious urbanisation of the area – this plan is a major step too far and must be vigorously resisted.

Annie - They can't build, everything that makes Trimley what it is can't just be built over like it's nothing!

Adrian Blaza, Spriteshall Lane, Trimley St Mary - Now then; Being a family man + ex "CITY" boy, I am TOTALLY AGAINST any such development. We have affordable houses already + we do not need to destroy the ever dwindling countryside for the sake of some misguided politicians who do not see further then their nose end. There are enough existing brown sites throughout the county that can be regenerated. If Trinity College are that desperate for cash then let us buy it from them to go in some kind of a trust. Pat from the Half Moon is right - when its gone its gone ! Keep up the fight

Tim Wray - The planned development if it goes ahead will ensure the enhanced values of safety and security we all enjoy in this area will be lost for ever. Why are developers so insistent to develop 'green field' sites whilst at the same time creating so much resentment amongst the local community. There must be plenty of derelict areas / wasteland across the region that can be redeveloped.

Rachael & Mark - What a great site. The best things about Trimley life are going to be ruined if this development goes ahead. Not only the countryside and village life but our safety is at risk. We don’t need more noise, more traffic and more pollution (on already very busy roads). I’m more than happy to distribute flyers and display banners. Please send me a few and I’ll display them at work.

HW - I strongly disagree with the development in the Trimleys. I intend to go on living in Trimley St Martin and bringing up my young family in what I consider at the moment a very safe and pleasant place to live. Surely there are not that many people requiring that many house to be built? Where are all those people going to come from? No doubt there will be many people moving out of the area if the development goes ahead therefore leaving more homes to be filled??? I honestly don't think the existing road networks could cope with such volume of traffic this would create if it went ahead. How can you then call it the Trimley villages? I thought a village was a small community. If I wanted to live in a town I would live in Felixstowe, Ipswich or Woodbridge. How much countryside do we have to lose in this country? We are all going to be living on top of each other before we know it - what will become of people's attitudes and moral's if we are to be hemmed in like animals!! Please do not let the building go ahead!!!!

Stuart Finch (1953 to 1981 Trimley St Mary) (1981 to present Trimley St Martin) - My husband has lived in the Trimley villages for 53 years, I joined him when we got married in 1971, all our children have been brought up in the villages. Over these years we have already seen a great deal of houses put up. The mornings trying to cross the Trimley high road can sometimes take me a good 10minutes, what would it be like if more houses are build, i might be standing there all day. Plus we are not happy how Trinity college acquired their land in the first place, because if you go back in history you will find that they were not gained by fair means, also why do i see the name Bidwells everywhere which i think is also a offshoot of trinity college, who is now selling our closed Doctors surgery on Trimley High Road. We not only have the thought of all these extra houses joining the villages, but also the Docks reaching the villages also. What freedom will the next generation of the villages have. I agree that affordable houses are needed for the youngsters of the villages, but they will probably be sold off at a later date at a vast profit. Then they will probably think of building more. Keep our villages small and safe.

“Look at any map - The Trimley villages are part of Felixstowe.”