Policy 2: Sustainable Communities identifies a number of criteria to ensure the delivery of high quality development.

Criteria 5 seeks to respect, protect and enhance landscape character, including maintaining strategic gaps and landscape setting. However, these principles have not been applied to the selection of reasonable alternative housing sites for Wymondham. As set out in the representations to the GNLP Site Allocations document, it is noted that the strategic extensions located to the north east of Wymondham, and identified as reasonable alternatives, are located within the strategic gap between Wymondham and Hethersett. This outcome would be inconsistent with the approach in Criteria 5 of Policy 2 in terms of whether development to the north east of Wymondham would respect and protect landscape character in this location. As set out in the representations to the GNLP Site Allocations document for the Wymondham sites, it is requested that those strategic sites located on the north east of Wymondham should score ‘red’ for impacts on landscape. In contrast, the promoted development at land south of Gonville Hall Farm in Wymondham (Ref. GNLP0320) would include new areas of green infrastructure and open space to mitigate the impact on landscape character.

Policy 2 includes a requirement for delivery statements to be prepared for developments of 100 dwellings or more, setting out a timetable for housing delivery at the site. The requirement for a delivery statement is appropriate, but the information provided in the statement needs to be robust, and a statement is no substitute for the allocation of deliverable sites in emerging GNLP. It is considered that a detailed assessment of housing delivery should be undertaken before sites are allocated for development or identified as reasonable alternatives, because discussions with developers on its own represents a limited and inadequate approach. A detailed assessment of housing delivery would have highlighted that the strategic extensions and garden villages identified as reasonable alternatives and contingencies for Wymondham are not deliverable in the short term and would not offset non-delivery at housing allocations and commitments. As set out in the representations to the Site Allocations document, land south of Gonville Hall Farm in Wymondham (Ref. GNLP0320) is deliverable and should be allocated for development or identified as a reasonable alternative.