East Suffolk Council
Former factory site to deliver up to 500 homes for Lowestoft
East Suffolk Council’s Strategic Planning Committee has voted to approve planning permission which will transform the former Jeld Wen factory site in Lowestoft, delivering up to 500 homes and more than 16,000 sqm of employment development.
This is a major step forward for the town, meeting one of the Council’s Local Plan priorities for brownfield land regeneration in the Kirkley Waterfront area of the town. While a planning policy for the site has been in place since 2009, redevelopment plans have not been forthcoming due to various challenging conditions on the site.
However, in recent years its potential has been aided by the delivery of the Gullwing bridge, improving its prominences and connectivity in the town, plus new road connections into the site. In July 2025, East Suffolk Council published a revised Kirkley Waterfront Planning Position Statement to reflect the new circumstances of this site and others adjacent. This has greatly improved the opportunities for the site, which has also seen considerable engagement with the local community as part of consideration for its future.
Councillor Mark Packard, Cabinet Member for Planning and Coastal Management, said:
“This is a great result for Lowestoft and East Suffolk. Not only does this bring homes, employment and infrastructure to a community which is very much in need of them all, it also regenerates an area blighted by under-investment, neglect and anti-social behaviour.
“With the government increasing our expected Local Housing Need numbers by 87% in the past year, we are facing a real challenge to ramp up the amount of homes in East Suffolk. Given that brownfield sites are not plentiful - and are challenging and expensive to build on, with inherent risks of land contamination, flood risk and ecological issues - progress can be slow and very expensive to achieve development. So, while some greenfield sites will still be needed, this news is an incredible result for the town.
“Unfortunately, this does mean that such sites face compromises in the mix of homes they can deliver, and the benefits they secure. However, this planning permission achieves all that we expected it to, and thanks to the dedicated hard work of officers, the blueprint for this development is now in place. I look forward to seeing detailed submissions, potential government investment and work commencing in the very near future.”
The Strategic Planning Committee meets quarterly and is tasked with only considering the Council’s largest and more strategic development proposals. An extraordinary meeting was called for this item, with Councillors from both the North and South Planning Committees considering the application. The vast majority of Members voted to approve the application, with one abstention.