New houses such as these at Westley near Bury St Edmunds are being built all the time to replace houses which fall into disrepair or which are developed for use in some other way. This means that the edges of towns and villages are always being extended.

Developers buy a field to build on but develop the houses as in this case from the centre of the field so that at the time the house is bought new it always has "countryside views" from its windows. The shape of the field is "fossilized" by the plan of the houses and the roads. Note the shelter belt of trees being planted to screen the housing from an unsightly view such as a trunk road, factory or sewage works. It is also on the northern side of the development and therefore will help to shelter the houses from frost and chill winds.