East Suffolk Council sells former offices in Melton to developer

East Suffolk Council's Laura Hack hands over the keys to the former Melton Hill office site to Alex Leader from Rose

A council has sold its former offices that have been vacant for six years to a developer for housing.

East Suffolk Council vacated the site on Melton Hill in Melton when it moved to nearby Riduna Park.

It has sold 3.23-acre (1.3-hectare) plot to Essex building firm Rose for an undisclosed sum.

Craig Rivett, the council's Conservative deputy leader, said he looked forward to seeing the site used for housing to help "meet local needs".

The site was initially sold in 2016, but the sale fell through, and the council restarted the process of marketing its former offices last July, following the end of a contract with the site's original developer.

There were plans for 100 homes shaped like "cheese wedges" to be built on the site that were approved in 2019 despite objections, but later fell through.

Rose plans to turn the former council offices, overlooking the River Deben at Woodbridge, into a mixture of apartments and houses

Steven Rose, managing director of Rose, which is based in Manningtree and recently built 33 homes at Queens Drive in Woodbridge, said they were "delighted" to be building in the area again.

"Our aim is to provide a development that will be worthy of its setting and location and become a welcome addition to the local landscape," he said.

"We will be working up plans and looking to engage with the local community very soon," he said.

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Rose said the King's View development would comprise a mixture of apartments and houses.

The council said it expected "any planning application of such scale to include provision for at least 33% affordable housing".

East Suffolk Council's offices are now at Riduna Park, opposite Melton's railway station