Merchants Yard: Two years on, still no access to Princes Street bridge

Merchants Yard sits on Grafton Way, as a new waterside housing development compromising of 173 homes available to rent, alongside two commercial units.

When outline planning permission was granted for Merchants Yard in May 2022 (reference IP/19/00148/OUT), Condition 28 set a clear public commitment: a new pedestrian and cycle link to Princes Street had to be built and open to the public before the 75th of the 173 approved homes was occupied.

That commitment has now been amended twice. Understanding why, means following a paper trail that runs from a council planning objection in December 2023 to a closed, unsafe pavement the developer says is not its responsibility to fix.

Built, but blocked

In October 2023, GHL (Ipswich) Developments Ltd — a Galliard Homes subsidiary — applied to discharge Condition 28, effectively declaring the connection complete. Ipswich Borough Council disagreed. In a letter dated 14 December 2023, the council's development management team leader, Richard Collins, said the principle of the link was "acceptable" but that the condition was "not discharged," pending further details on signage, lighting, landscaping and security.

A follow-up letter on 7 March 2024 was sharper. The council raised concerns that a proposed rolled-gravel area behind a hedge "is likely to be prone to rough sleeping, crime, anti-social behaviour and litter." It also noted that Suffolk Police had warned a planned privacy screen could create a "tunnel effect," which "could be particularly intimidating to lone people and vulnerable groups using the walkway." The council asked for a design that would allow better natural surveillance of the route.

Revised designs followed, and on 8 July 2024, the council formally discharged Condition 28, approving the final drawings and specifying the ramp be painted green with grey handrails, maintained under the site's management plan. Discharging a condition in this way approves the design on paper — it does not confirm the physical works have been completed, connect properly, or are ready for public use.

Five weeks later, on 16 August 2024, GHL wrote to the council again — this time asking to change the condition itself. The letter is direct about what had gone wrong: "The ramp is completed but the connection to the pavement on Princes Street Bridge is still proving to be really difficult to implement. The pavement is in a poor condition, to the extent that it has been closed by Suffolk Highways as it deemed to be unsafe." The company added: "Galliard are prepared to undertake the repair works on behalf of Network Rail and Suffolk Highways but that is still subject to technical approval on the design."

Moving the deadline, twice

To give residents time to move in while the pavement issue was resolved, GHL proposed extending the occupation trigger in Condition 28 from the 75th dwelling to the 150th. Ipswich Borough Council approved this as a non-material amendment (reference IP/25/00206/NMMA) on 8 April 2025.

By July 2025, the pavement still had not been repaired. A second amendment (reference IP/25/00528/NMMA) was submitted, this time removing the fixed dwelling count altogether. The applicant's stated reason: "Due to on going work on the pavement and to allow occupation of some of the residential units." Ipswich Borough Council approved this on 7 August 2025.

Condition 28 now requires the connection to be open within 12 months of the first occupation of the final, 173rd dwelling — whichever date that turns out to be. A spokesperson for Ipswich Borough Council said: "As it stands, from our understanding, 168 of the 173 properties are occupied and so there is no breach of planning."

Where things stand

Merchants Yard's housing was completed and occupied last year and its final commercial units were finished in March 2026.

Anyone passing by will observe a gap between the ramp and the bridge structure, sealed off with temporary fencing, where the two do not currently meet.

Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Council and Galliard Homes have each pointed to reasons the connection's completion does not sit with them, while Network Rail has not yet responded to enquiries about its role.

Suffolk County Council said the connection is not currently recorded as public highway, and confirmed it will not adopt it.

Ipswich Borough Council, as planning authority, does not own the site, the bridge or the highway.

Cllr Carole Jones, the council's portfolio holder for planning and museums, said: "The newly installed pedestrian link to Merchants Yard from Princes Street needs to connect to a bridge which is the responsibility of Network Rail, under which the railway line used to run to serve the rail sidings at Stoke Bridge, over which is the busy Princes St public highway, which is the responsibility of Suffolk County Council, making this much more complex than it appears."

She added that Galliard Homes is "not in breach of their planning permission and as everyone is actively working towards the main goal of getting the pedestrian link open, there is no need for enforcement."

Galliard Homes said: "While these works are not Galliard Homes' responsibility, we have committed to funding and delivering them to improve connectivity for the local community." The company added it has been "working closely with Network Rail and Suffolk Highways, over the past 18 months, to find a solution" and that "an agreement in principle has now been reached." It said it is "now progressing the remaining approvals" and hopes to reopen the link "as soon as possible."

The bottom line

The ramp at the centre of this has been finished for close to two years. What has kept it closed is not a failure by Merchants Yard's builders, but an unsafe stretch of pavement on the other side of the connection that has taken far longer to repair than anyone appears to have anticipated.

Twice, the council has agreed to relax a public commitment made when planning permission was granted, rather than see residents' occupation delayed further. What remains unanswered is when the repair itself will actually happen — and, with the clock only set to start once the final home is occupied, how much longer residents and visitors will wait to use it.

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