We are committed to engaging with the community and it is important to us that local people, including neighbours, were given the opportunity to view and comment on our proposal before a planning application was submitted. Because of social distancing restrictions in place due to Covid-19, the consultation programme was directed towards digital and postal formats.

To achieve this, we met with neighbours to the site ahead of a holding a virtual exhibition in August and September 2021, which over 2,000 local addresses and local elected representatives were invited to view. Our exhibition has been available from Tuesday 24th August 2021 and all materials displayed at the exhibition are available to download from this website.

We were pleased that 73% of respondents to our consultation outlined their support for our proposals to improve the housing choices for older people in Halesworth. We received a number of comments expressing that this proposal represents a positive use for the allocated site, whilst other feedback received praised the provision of land to be used as a community asset. A Statement of Community Involvement, detailing our community consultation programme, is available to view as part of the submission documents on East Suffolk District Council’s website.