Former Ipswich pub could become homes in flats project

The former Defiance pub on Stoke Street. Picture: ARCHANT

Nearly a quarter of a century after it called last orders, the site of an Ipswich pub is set to be redeveloped into a riverside housing development.

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Flats could be built behind the former Defiance pub in Ipswich. Picture: IBC Flats could be built behind the former Defiance pub in Ipswich. Picture: IBC

The Defiance, in Stoke Street, closed to punters in 1996 and has stood empty since then.

Now an application has been lodged with Ipswich council to convert the former pub into two flats and build two blocks of flats behind it beside the River Orwell – one with 18 two-bedroomed flats and one with 11 one-bedroomed, two-bedroomed and studio flats.

This is a full application and it has been lodged with the borough after Maybush Developments Ltd and KLH Architects carried out pre-application discussions with borough housing officers to try to find out what kind of new properties would be acceptable in the area.

It is on the edge of the historic Over Stoke area of the town – and the Defiance was once a very popular pub. However it suffered from the growth in town centre venues in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Flats could be built behind the former Defiance pub in Ipswich. Picture: IBC Flats could be built behind the former Defiance pub in Ipswich. Picture: IBC

There have been problems with squatters in the area at times over the last two decades – and they were blamed for a fire that caused some damage to buildings in the area on one occasion.

The current owners of the land have already started tidying it up – getting rid of Japanese Knotweed, removing drug and alchohol-related waste and demolishing unsafe workshop buildings.

An extension at the side of the former pub will be demolished as part of the proposal to turn it into one two-bedroomed and one single-bedroomed flat.

The larger block of flats would be six storeys high while the smaller block will be four storeys – and the developers plan to landscape the area so it fits in with other buildings on the southern side of the Orwell.

They say the development is much smaller in scale than any earlier development proposed for student flats on the site which would have totally obscured the view of Over Stoke from the other side of the river.

The application includes parking for 15 vehicles and space for cycles – which is in accordance with guidelines for homes built near the town centre – and also amenity space for the occupiers of the flats.

It is expected to be discussed by the borough council's planning and development committee later in the spring.