Property Recycling Group plc and JAYNIC are to hold a public exhibition on the draft Masterplan they have prepared, which proposes commercial and residential development on the former RAF airfield at Shepherd’s Grove. The proposals will provide a number of benefits for the local community.
The Masterplan area includes Shepherd’s Grove East and Shepherd’s Grove West as well as the undeveloped land between these two existing employment sites. Shepherd’s Grove is located to the south of the A143 one mile to the east of Stanton in Suffolk.
The public exhibition will be held at Stanton Community Village Hall, in Stanton, on Thursday 21st February between 3.00pm and 8.00pm.
JAYNIC Properties was formed in 2008 and has quickly established itself as a leading property company focused on the design, planning, investment and development of commercial and residential property across the South East of England. JAYNIC works closely with local communities and stakeholders to ensure that its projects create desirable and sustainable places for people to live and work.
CB Richard Ellis acted on behalf of JAYNIC Properties Ltd on the land sale.
The community benefits of the proposals would be:
A new business park for up to 1,750,000 sq ft of floorspace creating a significant number of new jobs
All HGV traffic currently going through Stanton to the existing Shepherd’s Grove West industrial estate will be able to enter Shepherd’s Grove via a new roundabout junction on the A143 and a new access road into the heart of the area.
The new roundabout junction on the A143 will slow traffic considerably coming in and out of Stanton and make the junction on to the A143 from Hepworth considerably safer
A new and attractive residential development of between 265 and 380 dwellings with improved pedestrian and cycle access to Stanton and the existing primary school, healthcare and shopping facilities
The developable land within the Masterplan area forms 3 distinct ‘zones’ which, through new development, will each exhibit their own identity whilst creating a cohesive mixed use community.
The Northern Zone forms the new site entrance and will be more open in character with attractive landscape frontages to the main A143 Bury Road. The new uses are likely to be commercial and roadside uses which by their nature require a prominent location and offer the opportunity to create high quality ‘gateway’ buildings.
The Central Zone is a contained and more concealed part of the site and is likely to provide new business units of varying sizes in contemporary new buildings, which will provide an attractive foil to the existing adjacent uses at Shepherd’s Grove East and Shepherd’s Grove West.
The Southern Zone is likely to form a new residential area that will derive its own identity through the creation of a series of ‘character areas’. This residential element could provide between 265 and 380 dwellings depending on the amount of affordable housing required by West Suffolk Council. This new residential area is well located to create an attractive development that would benefit from enhanced connections to the existing services and facilities available in Stanton (to the west) and Walsham le-Willows (to the south).
A new roundabout junction just south of the A143 will form the main entrance to the masterplan area, which could be flanked by new ‘gateway’ buildings of high architectural quality. The new access will benefit the wider community, and particularly the residents of Stanton, by removing the need for commercial vehicles to go through the village to reach Shepherd’s Grove West.
New footpaths and cycleways will be installed running north / south through the Masterplan area linking the proposed employment and residential elements and providing easier connections to Walsham Le Willows to the south and Hepworth to the north.
A new estate road will serve the northern and central employment zones with fully serviced plots being created off this new access corridor. Within the Southern Zone a loop road will provide access to the residential area, with a series of secondary roads leading off the main loop road. Whilst there are 3 existing bus routes that pass within 0.5 – 1km of the site, discussions are underway to improve public transport provision to the site, given the new business and residential site uses, and to create greater accessibility to the site.
The Masterplan area is allocated in the ‘Vision 2031 Local Plan’ as a Rural Employment Area, primarily for new business uses. However, any new development must include the construction of a new access road through to Shepherd’s Grove West and a roundabout on the A143, so that vehicular access to Shepherd’s Grove West is no longer through the village of Stanton.
As a consequence of the infrastructure requirements, the development of the available land within the Masterplan area for employment uses, cannot be viably achieved without the inclusion of a proportion of residential and other commercial uses to help subsidise the provision of the new infrastructure. This will include the new access road as well as electricity, telecoms and drainage services.
Following the public consultation, revisions may be made to the Masterplan prior to its consideration by West Suffolk Council. Once approved, the Masterplan will become supplementary planning guidance and a planning application for the scheme would be submitted before the end of 2019.
Further details, consultation questionnaire and a copy of the Masterplan can be found on: www.shepherdsgrovestanton-masterplan.co.uk
