Leading volume housebuilder Weston Homes has gained planning consent from West Suffolk Council for a new £40m (DGV) residential-led scheme on the former Gasholder site on Tayfen Road, in Bury St Edmunds, which will create 171 new homes homes, comprising one and two-bedroom apartments, and a commercial unit providing 404 sq.metres of flexible workspace.

Located on a 1.15 hectare (2.84 acre) brownfield site, on which a 1950s Gasholder once stood, the new development will provide 68 one-bedroom and 103 two-bedroom apartments, including 31 affordable housing units, comprising 16 one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom apartments. The former Gasholder site is within close proximity of Bury St Edmunds train station and existing green infrastructure at Tayfields Parkland and Tayfen Meadow.

Featuring low-rise architecture and subtly coloured brickwork that will honour the historic market town’s period architectural and industrial heritage, the scheme will provide six new apartment buildings, four to five storeys in height.

Weston Homes has carefully considered the landscaping of the scheme which will incorporate informal play elements, with an emphasis on new pedestrian and cycle routes, plus extensive provision for bicycle storage. 

As well as having access to landscaped public spaces, each apartment will benefit from external private amenity space, in the form of a recessed or projecting balcony, or a ground level garden patio. New vehicular access to the site will be created from Tayfen Road, with a total of 136 car parking spaces, including bays for disabled access needs.

The disused Gasholder site – the 1950s-built industrial structure was decommissioned in 2015 and has since been dismantled – sits to the northwest of Tayfen Road, in easy walking distance of Bury St Edmunds’ thriving town centre, which is characterised by attractive conservation areas and an array of shopping, schools and colleges, eateries, GP surgeries and community facilities on hand.

Weston Homes has an established presence in Bury St Edmunds, and has built and launched two highly successful residential schemes in the locality, Harland Court and Tayfields, both in close proximity to the Tayfen Road site. 

Bob Weston, Chairman & Managing Director of Weston Homes says: “Weston Homes is delighted to have gained planning consent from West Suffolk Council for the 171 new homes housing development on the former Gasholder site on Tayfen Road, in Bury St Edmunds. There remains a huge lack of new housing in South East England in relation to demand, so this new development will help to meet much needed market sale and affordable housing provision in the locality. The new scheme will offer homes that are perfect for first-time buyers, young couples and families.”  

Founded in 1987 by Chairman and Managing Director Bob Weston and now one of the leading developers of quality homes in the South East of England, Weston Homes was the winner of the prestigious top Gold Award for Best Medium Sized Housebuilder at the annual 2022 WhatHouse? Awards for its commitment to designing and delivering environmentally sustainable projects.

As a result, sustainability is an overarching agenda at Weston Homes, and all developments are designed with a range of cutting-edge eco-credentials and built under a fabric-first policy and constructed using elements of the British Offsite Uni panel system.