{"id":1100,"date":"2025-03-18T09:00:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T10:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/?p=1100"},"modified":"2025-03-18T23:11:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T23:11:47","slug":"weve-been-left-in-tears-over-mega-shed-built-at-the-bottom-of-our-gardens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/weve-been-left-in-tears-over-mega-shed-built-at-the-bottom-of-our-gardens\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019ve been left in tears over mega-shed built at the bottom of our gardens\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Construction on the huge warehouse began last autumn (Picture: East Anglia News Service)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Residents in a small village in Suffolk are up in arms after a huge warehouse was built practically in their back gardens.<\/p>\n

The warehouse, nicknamed the \u2018mega-shed\u2019, replaced scenic countryside views with the less impressive vista of a \u2018massive metal wall\u2019.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The building is the size of six full-sized football pitches at 482ft (147m) wide, 984ft (300m) long and 69ft (21m) tall.<\/p>\n

Residents are furious that East Suffolk Council approved the planning application for the building, and say it feels like they\u2019re now living in a prison because the structure blocks out the sun.<\/p>\n

Some even say the building is impacting their mental health, with 69-year-old Sheila Snell telling the BBC<\/a> she had \u2018shed quite a few tears\u2019 over it.<\/p>\n

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The huge warehouse looms over neighbouring homes (Picture: East Anglia News Service)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I\u2019m 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,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s like living in a grey day, every day. Who is going to want to buy something that looks on to a huge steel wall?\u2019<\/p>\n

Adrian Day, 66, who runs a software consultancy, called the approval of the plans as \u2018inconsiderate and disrespectful\u2019.<\/p>\n

Some residents have branded the council\u2019s planning approval as \u2018fundamentally wrong\u2019 \u2013 though the council insists planning consent was properly given.<\/p>\n

Adrian told MailOnline<\/a>: \u2018The new building is utterly insane and completely obliterates the outlook from our house.<\/p>\n

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Dave Ward asked why he and other residents should have to put up with the huge warehouse (Picture: East Anglia News Service)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018The 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.<\/p>\n

\u2018Some of our neighbours don\u2019t want to open their bedroom curtains now because they don\u2019t want to put up with the sight of it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Adrian attended the planning council meeting where the plans were discussed, and claims members of the planning committee \u2018didn\u2019t realise how big it was going to be\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018The whole thing was just waived through after the planning officers recommended approval,\u2019 he claimed.<\/p>\n

\u2018They did decide to have a site visit before making a decision, but we were not allowed to talk to the councillors when they came.<\/p>\n

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The council says planning permission for the warehouse was properly given (Picture: East Anglia News Service)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I wanted them to get some cherry pickers at either end so they could visualise just how big it was going to be \u2013 but they didn\u2019t want to do that.\u2019<\/p>\n

The huge warehouse was built on the opposite side of a railway line running past the village, and the busy A14 is close by.<\/p>\n

Adrian says he and other residents don\u2019t mind dealing with noise from the railway and road \u2013 but they do object to their views overlooking fields being ruined.<\/p>\n

\u2018Now 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,\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n

\u2018We just feel like the council has ignored the views of local people. It is maladministration in my view.<\/p>\n

\u2018We bought our house because of the outlook over fields and now the view has been ruined.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Wendy and Greg Pulham are worried about the value of their home going down (Picture: East Anglia News Service)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adrian\u2019s partner Jenny Upson agreed, calling the warehouse \u2018an abomination\u2019.<\/p>\n

She added: \u2018The 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.<\/p>\n

\u2018First of all they put the vertical steels and then when they constructed the walls we realised just how big it was.<\/p>\n

\u2018Now 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.\u2019<\/p>\n

An online brochure for the development, by Equation Properties, said tenants would have 24\/7 access to the site.<\/p>\n

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Adrian Day doesn\u2019t think the council\u2019s planning committee understood just how big the warehouse would be (Picture: East Anglia News Service)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jenny fears that means \u2018we\u2019re going to see lights and hear lorries and cars and clanking about\u2019 at all hours.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 \u2018so why should we have it?\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018They bulldozed the plans through because it was money in their pockets. I wouldn\u2019t have minded if it had been 10m lower. I just can\u2019t see why it has to be so big,\u2019 Dave said.<\/p>\n

\u2018We moved here nine years ago and thought it would be the last move in our lifetimes, but now I don\u2019t think it will be.<\/p>\n

\u2018We 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.\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The warehouse is set to have 424 car parking spaces, and 120 bays for lorries.<\/p>\n

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The grey walls make residents feel like there\u2019s a thunderstorm every day (Picture: East Anglia News Service)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once complete, it will be one of three warehouses \u2013 plans for a fourth one were scrapped.<\/p>\n

Retired merchant seaman Neil Goldie, 78, said: \u2018I just can\u2019t understand why it has to be so high. It is a monstrosity which has blighted the area.<\/p>\n

\u2018They talk about it eventually blending in o the area \u2013 but in my mind it looks cheap and nasty.<\/p>\n

\u2018We used to get full sun in our garden all year round which was one of the reasons we loved living here.<\/p>\n

\u2018But during this winter, the sun only came half way up the garden because it was being blocked out by the wall.<\/p>\n

\u2018We used to have skylarks nesting in the field at the back, but of course they have gone now.\u2019<\/p>\n

Wendy Pulham worried the warehouse would reduce the value of her and husband Greg\u2019s home, due to the loss of their view and sunlight being blocked in the garden.<\/p>\n

A council spokesperson said: \u2018Members of the planning committee, many of whom have strong local knowledge, visited the site and neighbouring properties on two occasions.<\/p>\n

\u2018They considered the representations received and heard directly from neighbours in the planning committee meetings.<\/p>\n

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Jenny Upson called it an abomination (Picture: East Anglia News Service)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018The planning decision was made in accordance with the development plan and planning legislation.<\/p>\n

\u2018The impact of any development on private property values is not a material planning consideration which affects decision making.<\/p>\n

\u2018If 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.<\/p>\n

\u2018This 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.<\/p>\n

\u2018All complainants have been provided with information summarising the decision-making process and the considerations applied.\u2019<\/p>\n

Metro <\/strong>has approached Equation Properties for comment<\/em><\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Construction on the huge warehouse began last autumn (Picture: East Anglia News Service) 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 \u2018mega-shed\u2019, replaced scenic countryside views with the less impressive vista of a \u2018massive metal wall\u2019. Construction […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1100"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1111,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1100\/revisions\/1111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}