The huge warehouse being built at Nacton in Suffolk has left neighbours in tears over the ‘monstrosity’ yet the council say the correct planning procedures were followed
A warehouse being built that will be the size of six football pitches has left locals furious that they’re ‘living in a prison camp’.
The enormous building in at Nacton, near Ipswich is set to be a staggering 147m wide, more than 300m long and 21m tall, completely blocking out nearby villagers’ views East Suffolk Council approved plans for the building at Equation Properties’ Orwell Logistics Park in 2021, saying the decision was properly made.
But those living in the area have been reduced to tears and blasted it as “fundamentally wrong” along with banding it a “monstrosity”. The building runs parallel to a railway line and is a mere 40m from villagers’ back gardens.
“It’s a gigantic mega-shed and, essentially, it is the wrong development, in the wrong location, and that was clear to anyone with common sense,” Adrian Day, 66, told the BBC. He said developers rejected a request to put up cherry-pickers that would have given councillors a better idea of its potential size and impact.
“I think local planning is all done just to give local people the illusion that their opinion counts, because what they’ve done is inconsiderate and disrespectful,” he added. Once complete, it will be one of three warehouses near the A14, with 424 parking spaces and 120 lorry bays. But neighbours say planners couldn’t have known how big they’d be.
Alan Thomas, 61, says: “We used to have views behind us of trees and fields, but now every time you look out the windows of your house, it looks like a stormy day – it’s horrible. And we barely get any sun, but nothing we have ever said to the council has been taken note of. It’s completely ridiculous and absolutely crazy.
“When I applied for an extension, they turned me down multiple times on lots of things, and now they have just gone ahead and let them build this monstrosity.” Sheila Snell, 69, said she has “shed quite a few tears”. She said: “I’m absolutely devastated because all I see is what is like a prison wall at the end of my garden, so it is like being in a prison camp.”
“It’s like living in a grey day, every day. Who is going to want to buy something that looks on to a huge steel wall?” Jenny Upson, 74, and a Felixstowe Road resident for 17 years, said neighbours will be able to “see lights and hear lorries and cars and clanking about”.
She said the building is an “abomination”, adding: “We were semi-rural but now we are at the edge of an industrial estate. We’re having to try to live with it but it’s difficult. It’s horrendous.”
East Suffolk Council, however, is confident it followed the correct procedure here. A spokesman said: “Members of the planning committee, many of whom have strong local knowledge, visited the site and neighbouring properties on two occasions.
“They considered the representations received and heard directly from neighbours in the planning committee meetings. The planning decision was made in accordance with the development plan and planning legislation. The impact of any development on private property values is not a material planning consideration which affects decision-making.”
