Special meeting called to agree response to Newmarket Icewell Hill and Churchill Court flats plan

An extra-ordinary meeting of Newmarket Town Council has been called next week to agree the authority’s response to a housing association’s redevelopment plans for the town’s Icewell Hill and Churchill Court flats.

It will be held at 6.30pm on Thursday at the memorial hall and follows last month’s council meeting when members urged residents to get involved in the consultations over the Rowley Drive masterplan proposal put forward by the Flagship housing association.

Cllr Kevin Yarrow was one of those concerned by the increase in the number of homes being proposed, from 263 to 400, which he said would see flats being re-built.

“There is room here to create a real community space and we don’t need to turn the clock back to the 1960’s model of Icewell Hill flats,” he said. “We should be looking at building homes with gardens.”

Newmarket MP Nick Timothy, who met with representatives from Flagship last week, said: “Demolishing the existing tower blocks is an opportunity to build a better and safer future for residents and neighbours, but the existing proposals are unacceptable.”

He said they would repeat the mistakes of the past and would create an environment in which crime and anti-social behaviour would flourish rather than the sense of community which everyone wanted.

Newmarket district councillor Cllr Adrian Whittle said: “As West Suffolk district councillor for Newmarket East Ward, I’m very much looking forward to attending and contributing to the discussion. It’s vital that any proposed design for Rowley Drive reflects the unique heritage and character of Newmarket, while also addressing the real housing needs of our community.

“Reform UK believes strongly in getting local housing right for local people. That means putting family, community, and country first in every decision we make. We must ensure that developments like Rowley Drive are not only appropriate in scale and style, but also genuinely serve the people of Newmarket now and for generations to come.

“I look forward to hearing the views of fellow councillors and residents, and working together to shape a response that protects what makes Newmarket special while planning responsibly for its future.”

A spokesman for Flagship said the masterplan outlined the potential for significant improvements to the area.

But he added: “It remains a flexible framework rather than a definitive proposal, and any further development will be shaped by what the community wants. This will be done on a phase-by-phase basis with reserved matters planning applications shaping the detail.”

Consultations with tenants start next week and will be followed by public exhibitions on October 21 and 25 in the memorial hall.