Object

Site Proposals document

Representation ID: 14166

Received: 16/03/2018

Respondent: Stoke Holy Cross Parish Council

Representation Summary:

Stoke Holy Cross is a small village with limited facilities already under pressure from recent housing development of 140 homes
This 3.7 ha site is capable of accommodating over 100 dwellings adding further to concerns over infrastructure and services, additional traffic and air pollution. Both Long Lane, near to the school, and Norwich Road are already experiencing congestion at peak times. Both routes are relatively narrow, have a series of substandard junctions and limited or no pavements/ foot ways.
The development would represent severe intrusion into open countryside outside the settlement boundaries to the detriment of the existing landscape.

Full text:

Ref GNLP 0197 - Land to North of Ingram's 'Salamanca' Site, Long Lane
The Parish Council objects to development of this scale in this location for the following reasons:

* Stoke Holy Cross is a relatively small village with limited facilities that are already under pressure from the recent housing development that has taken place in the village.
* The proposed site is 3.7 ha in size and could accommodate in excess of 100 dwellings. Stoke Holy Cross has already had over 140 dwellings built over the last three years, representing a 33% increase in households in lower Stoke, where most facilities in the Parish are located. This scale of increase well exceeds that envisaged in the Joint Core Strategy that identified it as a village suitable for 20 dwellings, given its limited facilities. A further substantial development of this nature would therefore put severe pressure on existing infrastructure serving the village, and inevitably lead to the need for people to seek community facilities elsewhere, especially Poringland and Norwich. Apart from the inconvenience of this, there would be a consequent increase in traffic movements along roads which are already well trafficked.
* The development would increase the amount of traffic on Long Lane and Norwich Road through Stoke Holy Cross, which is already experiencing significantly higher traffic flows as a result of the new developments in the village and those from the major developments in Poringland. This would increase the amount of traffic past the school, which is already severely congested at peak traffic hours. It would also increase traffic using Norwich Road, through Stoke, which is relatively narrow, has a series of substandard junctions, and no pavements or footways along much of the route.
* The development would represent a severe intrusion into presently open countryside and spread the village beyond its 'natural' development boundaries and outside the settlement boundary, into the open fields beyond, to the detriment of the existing rural landscape.