The Parish Council is unanimously opposed to the proposed new development. At a well-attended public meeting, called by the Council on February 19th 2018 in Colton Village Hall, there was no support for the proposed development. The residents of Marlingford and Colton Parish value their environment as it is. This was clearly established in the Parish Plan for Marlingford and Colton in 2006 (available at marlingfordandcoltonpc@norfolkparishes.gov.uk). As indicated in the Parish Plan, they value the quiet, friendly and rural nature of where they live, with a very strong appreciation of the local landscape and wildlife. Nothing has happened since then, including various public and parish council meetings, to suggest that those views have changed.
The Council's objections are:
Colton is classified as an Other Village with a defined development boundary: the proposed site is outside that boundary. The proposal is for residential development, holiday accommodation and/or staff accommodation related to Barnham Broom Golf and Country Club.
If used for residential development, the site, area 2.44 hectares, might, at a density of 20 per hectare, have up to 50 dwellings: this would be a 60% increase in the number of dwellings in Colton. Colton does not have an accessible primary school, as defined in the Growth Options document: a school within two miles from the centre of the settlement and accessible the whole way from the outskirts of the settlement via a pavement. Further, primary schools in adjacent villages are likely to have capacity constraints. The site is not well related to existing housing in the village. A site immediately adjacent, on the north side, to the Ugly Bug pub (now the Norfolk Lurcher) was the subject of a planning application, 2015/1148, South Norfolk Council, for a time share swimming pool and associated residential accommodation: separation from the rest of the village was one factor in the planning inspector's refusal of an appeal in relation to the application. Parts of the site are known to have an old drainage system. The Colton sewerage system stops at the Norfolk Lurcher. All the sewage in Colton flows by gravity to a pumping station on the north side of the Norwich Road, from there it is pumped south to Barford, and then Whitlingham; for such a relatively large development, there could be a capacity constraint. There could also be capacity constraints with regard to electricity and water supply. In its responses to the consultations for the South Norfolk Local Plan, the Council was opposed to the use of this site for housing; the site was not allocated for development. The site is located on grade 2 agricultural land.
If used for holiday accommodation and/or staff accommodation, the occupants seem unlikely to be involved in the life of the village, both because of the separation from the main part of the village and because the focus of the occupants would be on the Golf and Country Club. It seems likely that most trips between the site and the Golf and Country Club would be by car, which seems inconsistent with the objective in the Norfolk Local Transport Plan of reducing the need to travel.
As indicated in the Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment, the local road network is unsuitable: High House Farm Lane is single-track with two right-angle bends and considerable HGV traffic that has been growing in recent years because of the expanding business of Viking Nurseries; the doubling of their glasshouse capacity is nearing completion. High House Farm Lane is linked to the Golf and Country Club by Church Lane, which is single-track with few passing places; Bickerston Hill, in particular, is quite steep with a blind bend, and very steep sides to the carriageway, with no passing place. The part of Church Lane nearest to the Golf Course is frequently flooded.