This site is identified for a strategic extension to the south of Wymondham for 1,500 dwellings; it is also included as part of the Silfield Garden Village. It is identified as a reasonable alternative housing allocation and as a contingency site for Wymondham to offset non-delivery. The lead-in times for these types of developments are typically more than 5 years, largely because they are complex and require significant levels of primary infrastructure to be provided e.g. roads and drainage in advance of housing. Therefore, it is very unlikely that this strategic extension would be delivered quickly enough to address non-delivery of housing at existing commitments and allocations. As such, this site does not meet the requirements for a contingency site, and should not be identified as a reasonable alternative in emerging GNLP. It is not clear at this stage whether this strategic extension would provide policy compliant levels of affordable housing; it should be noted that the approved strategic development at South Wymondham currently under construction was required to provide between 15% and 20% affordable housing because of the infrastructure improvements required to connect the site to the town centre. It is requested that the site promoter confirms whether the proposed development could provide policy compliant levels of affordable housing, taking into account the costs of providing primary infrastructure in advance of development. The site assessment identified landscape/townscape and highway access as constraints to development at the site.

It is requested that this site is deleted as a reasonable alternative housing allocation.