Plans have been approved to turn a residential care unit on Woodbridge Road into supported living for people with learning disabilities. 

A planning application was submitted by Grosvenor Hill Social Impact Group in September last year to use a large vacant building in Woodbridge Road that used to be a care unit into a supported living unit. 

Ipswich Borough Council discussed these plans on March 3. 

Grosvenor Hill, who specialises in social housing, suggested converting the building to 15 self-contained supported living units which the United Response charity will manage.

The charity supports adults and young people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, autism, and mental health needs.

The proposal comprised internal and external refurbishment, including replacing windows and doors and installing CCTV.

The ground floor would include a communal lounge and office, with a further office and staff bedroom at first-floor level.

Along with this, a parking space for 12 cars and 19 bicycles would be made at the front and the side of the building.

This building is situated in Woodbridge Road in the north-east of Ipswich. 

Plans were previously submitted in 2022 and 2023 to convert the care home into supported living units but both were withdrawn, with the most recent prompting many concerns from neighbours.

Residents were concerned by the lack of access to Gordon Road and the detriment to parking, the free flow of traffic, and pedestrian and highway safety, with regards to the most recent plan.

Planners however called the proposal "acceptable on balance" and Ipswich Borough Council approved the application at a meeting on Wednesday, April 3.

On the same day plans to convert a building with a dog grooming business on the ground floor and a vacant flat on the first floor into a single three-bed house on Nacton Road, were approved. 

Meanwhile, the proposal to build four new semi-detached homes on empty land on London Road was deferred by the council.