‘We’ve been left in tears over 21m mega-shed built at the bottom of our gardens’
Residents in a small village in Suffolk are up in arms after a huge warehouse was built practically in their back gardens.
The warehouse, nicknamed the ‘mega-shed’, replaced scenic countryside views with the less impressive vista of a ‘massive metal wall’.
Construction on the warehouse in Nacton, near Ipswich, began last autumn, and locals were told it will be used as a freight forwarding depot during construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power station.
The building is the size of six full-sized football pitches at 482ft (147m) wide, 984ft (300m) long and 69ft (21m) tall.
Residents are furious that East Suffolk Council approved the planning application for the building, and say it feels like they’re now living in a prison because the structure blocks out the sun.
Some even say the building is impacting their mental health, with 69-year-old Sheila Snell telling the BBC she had ‘shed quite a few tears’ over it.
‘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,’ she said.
‘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?’
Adrian Day, 66, who runs a software consultancy, called the approval of the plans as ‘inconsiderate and disrespectful’.
Some residents have branded the council’s planning approval as ‘fundamentally wrong’ – though the council insists planning consent was properly given.
Adrian told MailOnline: ‘The new building is utterly insane and completely obliterates the outlook from our house.
‘The design of it is just dire. The grey cladding makes it permanently look as if a thunderstorm is brewing at the bottom of the garden.
‘Some of our neighbours don’t want to open their bedroom curtains now because they don’t want to put up with the sight of it.’
Adrian attended the planning council meeting where the plans were discussed, and claims members of the planning committee ‘didn’t realise how big it was going to be’.
‘The whole thing was just waived through after the planning officers recommended approval,’ he claimed.
‘They did decide to have a site visit before making a decision, but we were not allowed to talk to the councillors when they came.
‘I wanted them to get some cherry pickers at either end so they could visualise just how big it was going to be – but they didn’t want to do that.’
The huge warehouse was built on the opposite side of a railway line running past the village, and the busy A14 is close by.
Adrian says he and other residents don’t mind dealing with noise from the railway and road – but they do object to their views overlooking fields being ruined.
‘Now we have to put to up with looking at this huge steel wall at the bottom of our gardens and that is not considered to be a problem. The design of it is just dire,’ he added.
‘We just feel like the council has ignored the views of local people. It is maladministration in my view.
‘We bought our house because of the outlook over fields and now the view has been ruined.’
Adrian’s partner Jenny Upson agreed, calling the warehouse ‘an abomination’.
She added: ‘The whole thing is a farce. The building work started last summer and we had to put up with a lot of noise and dust from construction work.
‘First of all they put the vertical steels and then when they constructed the walls we realised just how big it was.
‘Now when you go into our back room, you are confronted by this huge wall and you cannot see the sky until you walk right up to the door.’
An online brochure for the development, by Equation Properties, said tenants would have 24/7 access to the site.
Jenny fears that means ‘we’re going to see lights and hear lorries and cars and clanking about’ at all hours.
Dave Ward, who lives with his wife Jan in the village, complained the council would never allow a building like this to be built on its doorstep – ‘so why should we have it?’.
‘They bulldozed the plans through because it was money in their pockets. I wouldn’t have minded if it had been 10m lower. I just can’t see why it has to be so big,’ Dave said.
‘We moved here nine years ago and thought it would be the last move in our lifetimes, but now I don’t think it will be.
‘We are annoyed because of the lack of consultation. Nobody talked to us about the colour of the building. We have heard talk about them repainting it, but we will have to wait and see.’
The building, which is still under construction, sits about 130-165ft (40-50m) away from the back gardens of the affected homes in Felixtowe Road.
The warehouse is set to have 424 car parking spaces, and 120 bays for lorries.
Once complete, it will be one of three warehouses – plans for a fourth one were scrapped.
Retired merchant seaman Neil Goldie, 78, said: ‘I just can’t understand why it has to be so high. It is a monstrosity which has blighted the area.
‘They talk about it eventually blending in o the area – but in my mind it looks cheap and nasty.
‘We used to get full sun in our garden all year round which was one of the reasons we loved living here.
‘But during this winter, the sun only came half way up the garden because it was being blocked out by the wall.
‘We used to have skylarks nesting in the field at the back, but of course they have gone now.’
Wendy Pulham worried the warehouse would reduce the value of her and husband Greg’s home, due to the loss of their view and sunlight being blocked in the garden.
A council spokesperson 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.
‘If it was felt that there had been procedural errors in this planning decision, there was an option to request a judicial review within six weeks of the decision date. No judicial review was requested.
‘This application was fully and properly assessed in its impact on neighbours, and we do not believe there was any fault in the decision-making process.
‘All complainants have been provided with information summarising the decision-making process and the considerations applied.’
Metro has approached Equation Properties for comment
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