A Suffolk council has made more than £5million from the sale of former offices and has pledged to invest the money in facilities.

East Suffolk Council sold the former Suffolk Coastal District Council site in Melton Hill, Woodbridge for £5,250,000.

The authority, which merged with neighbouring Waveney District Council to form East Suffolk Council, moved to nearby Riduna Park in Melton in 2016.

Manningtree-based ROSE Builders is planning to build 98 homes at Melton Hill and recently held a second public consultation into the proposals, which include 29 one-bed, 39 two-bed and 22 three-bed apartments, along with five family houses and two duplex homes.

A council spokesman said: “The capital receipts from the sale of Melton Hill will contribute towards financing the council’s ambitious capital and transformation programmes, investing in facilities across the district and maintaining service delivery.

“The Melton Hill site was independently valued prior to sale and was then offered for sale via local agents. There was significant interest in the site which achieved a good price along with promising prospects of early redevelopment.”

In June, the EADT reported the council had spent nearly £1.5m maintaining and securing the offices while they stood empty, but the spokesperson said the money from the sale would not have to pay off the money spent.

She said: “The costs of maintaining and securing the site prior to sale are not a ‘debt’ that needs to be paid off, they are simply revenue costs that the council has incurred prior to disposal and need to be considered in the context of the rising financial and carbon costs of occupying the former offices and the ongoing savings attributable to moving to East Suffolk House.”

The site had been the subject of previous plans, including by developer Active Urban, which caused controversy after being likened to ‘cheese wedges’ because of their design and had attracted more than 200 objections.

ROSE builders conducted a previous consultation, which resulted in a number of changes to the layout of the development.

These included moving one of the main accommodation blocks away from the boundary, more detail on window positions, more parking spaces and using a more traditional styling on the front of the properties.