A nine-year-old girl has written a heartfelt letter to her district council pleading for playing fields to be spared from new development as part of plans to build 2,000 homes.

Daisy Treasure, from Felixstowe, has appealed to East Suffolk Council not to build on Eastward Ho! where she has "a lot of fun" playing football.

Fears have been raised that the popular 30-acre recreation space and neighbouring woods at the Grove could be enveloped as part of the North Felixstowe Garden Neighbourhood, which will be built over a 20 to 30-year period and increase the town's population by 10,000.

READ MORE: Fears about future of Eastward Ho! and Grove in Felixstowe

In her letter, she said: "I really don’t want you to build over Eastward Ho! because I, and so many others, have a lot of fun playing football there when Dellwood is used for cricket.

A consultation on the project was held on TuesdayA consultation on the project was held on Tuesday (Image: Dominic Bareham)

"Have you been there on weekends to see how much fun everyone is having?
 
"There are lots of other places that can be used instead of a popular playing field.

"The plan says that the current land will be made better but if Eastward Ho! is built on then it would be worse for the local community because we would lose a big playing field.

READ MORE: North Felixstowe Garden Neighbourhood event on Tuesday
 
"I hope you make the right decision for the future of Eastward Ho!"

Daisy's mother Ella Treasure, 39, said: "I am incredibly proud of the initiative Daisy has shown in writing this letter and standing up for what she believes in.

"Daisy and her friends have spent hundreds of hours on the Eastward Ho! playing field and it would be detrimental to our local community to lose it."

A spokesperson for East Suffolk Council said: “We were delighted to receive Daisy’s letter and it is lovely to see young people taking a real interest in local issues.

"We entirely agree with her that Eastward Ho! is a really important space for local people, young and old, and we will be writing back to her to reassure her about the proposals.

“Not only will the playing fields remain, they will be re-laid and improved to meet expected standards and, as part of the masterplan, we are also looking to improve changing facilities, enabling more pitches to be used throughout the year.

"Additionally, we would like to lay a new six-pitch cricket square plus a long-distance running track.

“It is a great shame that rumours have circulated on social media which have led people to believe that Eastward Ho! will be overwhelmed with housing.

"This is simply not true, and we are glad to explain what is really happening, both to Daisy and to all local people.

“The woodland at Eastward Ho will be completely protected and only a small fraction of the open space would be considered to build a brand new primary school, with new community facilities potentially developed in locations where buildings are already in place."

On Tuesday, the council held a public consultation about the plans at Felixstowe's Brackenbury Sports Centre, which was attended by more than 900 people over a five hour period.