Developers are looking to build more houses on a Bury St Edmunds estate after they submitted plans tor turn an area earmarked for indoor sports facilities or leisure into 76 homes.

The extra homes would be built on the Marham Park estate in the town by developers Countryside Properties.

The land is currently being used a construction compound while work is carried out on the site but under the original plans it was allocated as 'leisure space' for the residents of the development.

Marham Park is a wider consortium scheme that will bring around 1,000 new homes to Bury St Edmunds with a number of different developers having built on the land.

Changes have previously been made to the site after it was deemed there was no requirement for the school site designated for it under the original site plans.

As a result that area is now under construction for residential use.

Countryside Properties said the leisure area had failed to attract a commercial operator in the four years it had been marketed but said that some facilities would still be retained alongside the new homes.

A spokesman from Countryside said: “Countryside has proactively marketed the site to the leisure sector since 2017, in the hope of attracting a commercial operator willing to acquire the site for an indoor sport and or leisure facility.

"Despite these efforts, there has been limited interest from willing and able operators. With the sector still in recovery from the fall out of the Covid-19 pandemic, demand has weakened further, leaving it probable that this part of the site will lay vacant and uncompleted for the foreseeable future.

“Rather than leaving the land dormant, Countryside is now seeking planning permission for 76 much needed additional homes for the area, including a mixture of market and affordable housing.

"As part of these plans, Countryside would deliver the sports pitches and pavilion two years earlier than originally envisaged, with the local authority able to make these amenities available to the community, providing real sporting benefits for local people.”

West Suffolk Council will have the final say on the plans in due course.