Braintree District Council’s planning committee have recently refused plans for the redevelopment of the brownfield site at Stafford Park. The proposal is for 100 homes, 22 apartments and a community centre.

Proposals include the demolition of existing buildings, associated land remediation works, flood attenuation measures, reinstatement of the River Stour and associated infrastructure improvements, landscaping and provision of public open space. 

Liston is a very small village consisting of a cluster of houses around the parish Church together with scattered farm dwellings totalling no more than 23 houses. The roads to the village from Long Melford are narrow and winding. The Stafford Park site is some distance from the village so the proposal of 122 new dwellings and a community centre is tantamount to a new settlement rather than representing sustainable incremental growth of an existing village. There are concerns that this new development with its increase in lighting and domestic paraphernalia will be detrimental to the character of the landscape of this part of the Stour Valley which is characterised by its rural and open nature.