A respected preservation group has weighed in to oppose three planning applications, which will be heard by Babergh's planning committee to tomorrow.

The Stour and Orwell Society supports Wherstead parish council and its residents' concerns over the developed of a McDonald's drive thru restaurant, retail and business parks, which they claim will 'swamp' the village, as reported in Nub News yesterday.

One development involves a filling station, McDonalds restaurant, lorry park, and either a single very large warehouse/distribution centre or multiple smaller units to the north of Bobbitts Lane at the intersection of the A14 and A137. The other development is for commercial buildings to the west of Vicarage Lane.

Founded in 2007, the Stour & Orwell Society work with local communities and the appropriate authorities to preserve and enhance the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the Shotley Peninsula and the banks of the two rivers.

A spokesman for the Stour & Orwell Society said: "Taken together, the proposals will be a massive and unnecessary intrusion on the edge of a small historic village. A service station and similar restaurant facilities are already available at the Copdock interchange barely a mile away and the commercial warehousing and units are inappropriately sited with inadequate access.

"The developments will be right on the edge of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and will severely affect the main approach to it. They will involve the loss of good agricultural land and have considerable visual impact.

"Additionally, we have grave doubts about the robustness of the highways assessment . The roads at the A14/A137 junction are to have no greater capacity than at present and there will be many completely new movements to incorporate at the junction - including two new access roads to service all the new developments and the replacement of the existing 'dumbbell, with two new roundabouts.

"It is claimed the queues which often stretch two miles back down the A137 at peak times will shrink to four cars. This is simply not credible.

"Our main worry is that these proposals are being considered piecemeal rather than as part of the overall neighbourhood plan which is currently being prepared by Babergh and Mid-Suffolk councils.

"We feel that there needs to be a carefully co-ordinated strategic approach to the Wherstead junction proposals in particular, led by Babergh Planning Department, rather than one which is the product of an avalanche of developer-led speculative planning applications.

"We are not a 'NIMBY' organisation objecting on principle to any planning proposals and we have been very selective over the years as to which developments we have chosen to get involved with. But the landscape and environment of the two rivers and the Shotley peninsula is a precious and much-loved resource on which there are many pressures. Both Wherstead Parish and Ipswich Borough Councils have objected to the Bobbits Lane proposals - Ipswich going so far as to describe them as 'unsustainable.

"We want to ensure that these proposed developments are put in context with other plans so that their combined impact can be assessed. Thus the Planning Committee should postpone any further consideration this is carried out."

Members of the public can view the planning committee meeting via the live streaming on Babergh's You Tube channel at 9am, Wednesday, July 29.