I attended the Ravenswood Public Inquiry to support the Residents Association. Ipswich Borough Council were represented by Mr Simon Bird an eminent QC and there were many Borough Officers present to put their case forward.
Richard Venning and Bryan Patterson were the only representatives from the Ravenswood Residents Association so the imbalance was quite clear from the start. The Planning Inspector was Melissa Hall and she was most accommodating. The Hearing lasted all day with much talk and interpretation of the word “integration” and the Council’s case was based purely on Need. Mr Venning put the Residents’ case very well but Mr Bird used all his legal skills to win the argument on Need and so it was left to me to point out that not once had anyone in the room mentioned the hard working people that have bought their properties on Ravenswood, pay their mortgages and their council tax.
Not once did anyone from the Council mention the possibility of anti-social behaviour which I did and the Inspector was indeed interested in this.
The design was without doubt excellent and it is hoped that the Inspector, who visited the site, will come to a fair compromise and allow some private housing to be built on this site thus keeping the original conception of Ravenswood being a mixed and balanced community.