Core Connections

In Stowmarket three development breifs were prepared by Elizabeth's team:

Station Quarter covers land in the valley next to the river Gipping, and is in in several ownerships, lies partlt in a flood plain, and includes the main rail station forecourt. The draft brief has been presernted to the Environment Agency, to the main landowners and to Network Rail. The next step is to agree modifications with the stakeholders and publish the briefs, as part of the background to the draft Stowmarket Action Area Local Plan. The sketch here by Gardner Stewart Architects illustrates a possible site development solution.

The Ashes Farm brief is for a steeply sloping site some five minutes from the town, where views of the site form a sensitive backdrop. Again the development team has analysed the key site constraints and opportunities, liaising closely with the landowners and preparing a framework to guide potential site plans.

The third site is an urban extension on the western edge of town, and its development will require significant transport, cultural community educational and recreational facilities as well as being a major site for the town's new housing requirements. The key to the site's development is to realise it as a total integrated area, linked by a green corridor to the town, to enable walking and cycling to be easy and attractive for all users.

Excitingly, these development briefs were all used by the sites' landowners as the basis from which they have prepared their own detailed development site briefs, and these were used in the Stowmarket Action Area Local Plan in summer 2010.