Britain’s happiest town has been plunged into a planning row as building begins on yet another swathe of countryside.
Labour is pushing ahead with its assault on the English countryside in a bid to build more homes.
One of the housing developments being constructed is beside the town of Woodbridge in Suffolk, which was named the happiest place to live last week.
But locals in neighbouring Eyke are far from pleased with the prospect of having scores of newbuilds on their doorstep.
At a parish meeting about the plans, so many angry residents turned up there was no room for chairs to be laid out.
Learning assistant Jan Bloomfield, 54, whose bungalow backs onto the field where the houses, including 21 affordable homes, will be built in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, said: ‘I am really concerned.
‘I am generally happy with my life, so it wasn’t a surprise to hear that the Woodbridge area is the happiest in the country – but I don’t think I’ll be so happy when these houses go up.
‘The people who put up the metal fence were using disgusting language, so I hope I am not going to have to put up with that all the time when the construction work starts.
‘We have a lot of wildlife around here, and I used to love looking at deer in the field – but they have all gone now. I have two elderly cats and the building work is going to stress them out.’
Building has started on a housing estate near a town that was named as the happiest place to live in Britain
Retired prison officer Glen Mattison, 74, (left) who lives with wife Liz, 74, (right) and their dog in a bungalow beside the development, said: ‘We didn’t know anything about it until the plans suddenly appeared’
Scores of homes are being built in the area of outstanding natural beauty
Ms Bloomfield has already had her housing association arrange for a six foot wooden fence to be erected on the boundary of the development to stop new residents using a path running beside her bungalow to cut through into the village.
Retired engineer Anthony Meredith, 70, who lives next door, has resisted having a fence built at the back of his bungalow so he can preserve his view of the field for as long as possible before the houses arrive on land to the south of the village’s Church of England primary school.
He said: ‘The plans for these houses have been going on for a few years. It started off as around 40 homes, and now it has gone up to 65.
‘It used to be beautiful farmland with different crops growing, but it is going to be turned into a housing estate. I have had a heart attack and a triple bypass and I moved here 11 years ago because I wanted a peaceful outlook on the countryside. Now I am going to lose it.
‘I don’t believe they should be building on prime farmland because it is taking away a food source apart from anything else.’
Mr Meredith also expressed fears that the new homes would further add to rush hour queues on the road to Woodbridge which most traffic from Eyke has to pass through.
He said: ‘We have just got 200 new homes at Rendlesham, and every one means more cars on the road. The houses at Eyke will just add to it. The roundabout down the road is already chock-a-block from 7am to 10am and again from 4pm to 6pm.
‘The Woodbridge area is certainly a happy place, but you can’t carry on building and building. You will eventually turn villages into towns when they haven’t got the facilities to expand.’
Villagers are up in arms about the changes, which they say could alter the character of where they live
Locals fear that without proper infrastructure, their village could be overrun with people
Other villagers believe that the traffic from the extra homes will have the potential to dent the area’s claim to be the UK’s happiest place, following the results of a Rightmove survey last week.
The plans for the new homes were approved by East Suffolk Council, despite opposition from the parish councils at Eyke, Bromeswell, Melton, and nearby Hollesley.
Concerns included the amount of traffic that would be generated, the speed limit in the village, and the lack of services.
Local councillor Isabelle Abu-Hejleh, who lives in a Grade Two former rectory opposite the development site, said it would alter the village’s character.
She also said that the cumulative impacts of traffic generated by the development, and other housing plans for the area, would be ‘madness’ and ‘make it even more dangerous than it already is’.
Leigh Davis, 42, who ran the village shop in Eyke with his wife Catrina, 44, until they were forced to close due to a lack of business just before Covid, said better infrastructure would need to be build to service the newcomers.
He said: ‘People have got to live somewhere but we do need better infrastructure as well.
‘It has caused some concern. The parish council had a meeting about it and there were not enough seats so some people had to stand. A lot of people were against it, but most accepted that it needed to happen.
‘Who knows? With a bigger population in the village, it might mean we can open the shop again. I think it will be good for the village.’
The plans for the new homes were approved by East Suffolk Council, despite opposition from the parish councils at Eyke, Bromeswell, Melton, and nearby Hollesley
Work has already begun on the site, with greebert stripped back and a beige dirt scarring the land
Locals living near the site has expressed their anger over a housing estate on their doorstep
One villager whose bungalow backs onto the site said: ‘The people who put up the metal fence were using disgusting language, so I hope I am not going to have to put up with that all the time when the construction work starts’
Retired prison officer Glen Mattison, 74, who lives with wife Liz, 74, in a bungalow beside the development, said: ‘We didn’t know anything about it until the plans suddenly appeared.
‘All the traffic from the new houses will be going onto the main road through a junction. The road is already busy enough and I am worried there will be crashes.
‘At one point they wanted to have an access road coming out beside our house, but luckily that got dropped.
‘We have not got any amenities in the village, apart from our fantastic village hall, and the bus service is rubbish – but we are having to accept 65 new houses.’
Other villagers believe that the traffic from the extra homes will have the potential to dent the area’s claim to be the UK’s happiest place, following the results of a Rightmove survey last week.
The house-selling website revealed that Woodbridge had been voted to the top spot, beating Richmond-upon-Thames to second place, after quizzing 35,000 people with points given for community spirit, friendliness and access to services such as schools and doctors.
But one pensioner Alan, 70, whose home is nearly opposite the new development said: ‘We have lost our shop and pub in Eyke in recent years, and there is already too much traffic so we cannot deal with a development of this size.
‘I was born in my house, and I still love it here. Woodbridge is a lovely place, but it is very expensive because it keeps getting a good press and so many people want to live there.
‘But having extra houses when the infrastructure can’t keep up puts pressure on local services. The population of Wickham Market up the road has doubled in recent years, and now I struggle to get an appointment at my doctors’ surgery there.
‘Back in the 1960s and 1970s, I could just cycle there and wait outside for an appointment.’
Keir Starmer said he would prioritise ‘human beings wanting to have a house’ as he joined his deputy Angela Rayner unveiling a radical overhaul of the rules
Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer (pictured at a building site in Cambridgeshire today) are unveiling the planning changes
The Deputy PM revealed the collective total for local targets would be just over 370,000 homes a year – as she bids to deliver 1.5million new homes over the next five years
Retired pharmacist Sarah Gazeley, 58, said: ‘I know we need new homes, but this new development is pretty big. If it was just 20 or 30 houses it would be easier for the village to absorb.
‘I am not against house building and we need affordable homes, but infrastructure has to be improved at the same time. These houses are going to be on top of other recent developments in other villages nearby
‘We already have traffic stacking up every morning at the Bromeswell roundabout, and these new houses will make it worse. People have to use their cars because the bus service is appalling.
‘We have a lovely community spirit here at the moment. You have to wonder whether people who live here will want to get involved, or just use it as a base to commute to London.’
Marlene Debenham, 79, who lives opposite the site of the houses, said: ‘My main concern is the access road. Our road is busy enough already. We have loads of lorries coming through and we can’t take much more.
‘When children come out of the school, there are cars sparked up and down the road as it is.’
Her neighbour Sally, 42, was more positive about the development. The mother-of-three said: ‘We only moved to Eyke in January, and we knew that this was going to happen before we came. I am hoping it will bring more people to the village
‘There is talk about there being a little playground which will be nice, and my five-year-old son is obsessed with diggers so he will enjoy watching the building work.
‘It is still going to be a happy place. People are very friendly around here and it is a pleasant rural area.’
Last week, Keir Starmer insisted building more homes was more important than the environment today as he vowed to rip up the ‘broken’ planning system.
The PM said he would prioritise ‘human beings wanting to have a house’ as he joined his deputy Angela Rayner unveiling a radical overhaul of the rules.
The changes could see hundreds of thousands of acres of green belt redesignated as low-value ‘grey belt’ land.
Social sustainability and real estate expert, Florian Wupperfeld is the boss of LCD Ventures.
He said: ‘Just building homes will not solve the UK’s housing crisis.
‘The UK needs thriving communities which are desirable destinations and places where people want to live.
‘Successful destinations have to offer not just the infrastructure, but also social, cultural and commercial equity for people or places to thrive.
‘If Labour’s house building plans are going to work, the government must adopt a holistic data-driven approach that prioritises the needs of the people who will be living there and those in the surrounding communities.
‘Acting early and strategically will enable the government to rigorously plan everything from infrastructure to services, ensuring the right balance of housing, transport, healthcare, education, and green spaces to successfully anticipate the social and economic needs of the area.
‘This will ensure environments that aren’t just functional, but crucially ones that are also sustainable and appealing.
‘The goal isn’t just to build homes — it’s to cultivate communities that thrive socially, economically and environmentally over the long term.’
MailOnline has contacted Denbury Homes for comment.
