Development of proposed site would be highly inappropriate due to several constraints:
Flooding - site is sloping and on high ground, meaning it would cause similar and worse flooding to lower lying land and houses as seen with the 'Hops' development adjacent to this site.
Safety - road/traffic speed and curves mean this would be a dangerous place to create side roads or increase traffic. Hopsack Road and Seamere road would be the only options for approach, both of which are too narrow for a substantial increase in volume of cars.
Industry - The site is boundaried on 2 sides by agricultural works and heavy plant industry, both of which cause significant noise and air pollution, but which also allow for significant employment in the area and any further residential growth would likely curtail these industrial businesses and thus affect the local economy. These industrial areas also have large amounts of HGV traffic approaching from East and West, and so would not be a suitable place to create large numbers of dwellings and increased traffic to mix with these vehicles. Land is opposite a strategically designated industrial and employment site, and creation of large amounts of residential housing stock would endanger the future of these sites, as well as exacerbating the HGV/domestic car mix safety problems.
Conservation - Land forms part of the view upon the approach to Hingham form the East, which is protected in by-laws which were observed in the planning process for the 'Hops', which was considered acceptable as the site sloped downward allowing for the tree-line and church view to be maintained from the Eastern approach. Development here would create a corridor approach to Hingham which would permanently alter the aesthetic of a historic town and damage tourism, and thus employment, both present and future. The site is also boundaried by historic listed buildings of significance to Hingham's tourism trade, and due to it's high and sloping position, is visible from a considerable distance around, including lanes, footpaths and bridleways connecting Deopham, Attleborough, Wicklewood and Wymondham and beyond. As a result, development would be highly visually impacting upon the rural environment for many miles around, as well as the view from many historic listed buildings, such as the Water Mlill and Lilac Farm (previously occupied by the Wodehouse family and the Lincolns). The most recent development, the 'Hops' is largely hidden from view by trees and the topography of the land, but any extension of this to the East would create a truly monolithic expanse of housing which would be dramatically out of character for such a beautiful historic town. The site also contains a historic pond, which has been untouched and protected as a wildlife haven, home to rare species of bats and newts, as well as breeding pares of moorhens.
Impact - the East of Hingham has recently experienced the largest volume of new houses in Hingham for 20 years, bringing with it significant disruption, noise and air pollution, building site debris, and massive loss of view and rural aesthetic. To further extend the town in this direction would be disproportionate and unbalanced, especially considering that more subtle and suitable sites, both in location and size, have been proposed.