Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the current GNLP2020(Please note: this is believed to be GNLP2019
due to it being in Coltishall) , whilst I will be commenting on one specific site, I would like to take this opportunity to offer general observations:

I write as a resident of Coltishall since 1981 and Hoveton for ten years prior to that and am dismayed at the current damage of Broadland District Council and North Norfolk District Council villages resulting from poor planning decisions and policy.

I do not accept that a “housing crisis” is in any way a justification for the situation we now have. I support sensibly planned development; but feel I must object to the current situation and proposals.

Traffic through Horstead and Coltishall has significantly increased at all times of the day irrespective of season. This directly results from the opening of the Northern Distributor Road. Try safely crossing the High Street in Coltishall in the rush hour or even fighting your way out into the traffic flow; it is much worse since the opening of the NDR a road fundamentally flawed in concept, design and execution, actually restricting traffic flow along Norwich’s arterial roads at peak times. What about emergency services trying to use the A1151 or B1150 at these times?

Any increase in development north of Norwich is madness without first addressing the obvious lack of capacity of the two narrow road bridges crossing the River Bure and in the villages of Hoveton and Wroxham, and Coltishall and Horstead.

In the 1980s a bypass for Wroxham and Hoveton was a Norfolk County Council priority, land and property was purchased, in spite of an unsuitable route being chosen. At that time it was clear that something was needed. Now traffic delays in Wroxham and Hoveton are causing large numbers of drivers to seek the alternative route. At peak times the Wroxham Road in Coltishall is a constant flow of vehicles. Also we have had thirty years of development in North Walsham, Stalham and other villages, the negative effect of the traffic is felt from these. Services under the roads are not reliable with collapsed sewers, burst water mains, leaking gas mains and buried electricity cabling frequently causing issues. This I suspect is partly as a result of age of the infrastructure and then constant road use above. A road closure causes chaos at peak times in the surrounding narrow residential streets with consequent danger to those who live in the village - see attached photo.

So what is the local authority policy to plan a route out of this mess? Well it appears to be only to build more houses including 2150 in North Walsham - it won’t work.

Recently we endured five days of chainsaws and shredders removing trees (yes, Saturday and Sunday included) from dawn to dusk. No doubt a planning application from another “garden grabber” will be lodged in due course as a large area has been cleared, the trees are gone so why not...

It wouldn’t be so bad if what was built was in any way aesthetically pleasing. While I appreciate the subjective nature of appearance, putting large red roofed properties immediately behind and dwarfing a line of modest grey roofed bungalows hardly looks as if any consideration has been given (Westbourne Road).

I really do fear for the section of land on Rectory Road where outline planning permission has been granted for 30 homes (COL1). Will they be as hideous as the development off the Cawston Road at Aylsham; truly an example of a lack of respect for the location, and next to a long distance footpath amenity, and the developer now wants to increase the site to at least fifty-five. I am witnessing the ongoing ruination of what were considered desirable areas to live.

No consideration is given to those who already living in an area who in no way benefit from development, indeed blighted with insensitive schemes which adversely effect their own properties and lives? Little or no investment in infrastructure or services to meet increased need.

And what about the disruption to residents during the progress of these builds? In 2019 we endured days of chainsaws, stump grinders, the mother of all bonfires and then months of vehicular movements, chaotic on street parking and mud. Roofers cutting tiles with angle grinders in from 7,15am on the whole four day Easter weekend. This is what these speculative developments mean to residents - just as well that developer was a member of the Considerate Contractors Scheme - and they only built two houses.

How many existing houses are empty at present? A glance on Rightmove suggests a lot; at all levels of the market. If we suddenly built all necessary to meet the Governments targets for building, the market would collapse into freefall and the economic consequences would be devastating to borrowers, lenders and… developers.

Sadly I have little confidence that anything will change, indeed our new Government wants to get more homes built – laudable - but at what cost? The current policy is completely flawed. A headlong rush to build, build, build is resulting in numerous mistakes – mostly major, a shockingly poor legacy.