GNLP0308

1 This site results in a significant revision of the Development Boundary. This is unwelcome and could result in what the Council regards as excessive and unacceptable levels of development in a Village which has and will meet it's obligations to expansion with existing identified sites. See Appendix 1.

2 Within the 'Suitability' Assessment under HELAA the GNLP records that there are six Amber areas:-
Access
Accessibility to Services,
Utilities Capacity,
Flood Risk,
Historic Environment
and, Transport and Roads
We would suggest that Flood Risk and Historic Environment matter less to our residents than each of the others where we feel that there are significant issues with each of them. Hales Hospital has now been redeveloped into Heckingham Park and is occupied.
The Site Suitability Conclusions describe the site as 'large' and lists several key areas where difficulties could be costly to resolve. This means that any successful development has to be a scale that justifies such spending on infrastructure. Development on such a scale is not acceptable to the Parish.

3 If this site is adopted as suitable for development there is a potential to construct 70+ houses on the land using current density guidelines. Thus coupled with the existing site that is approved for development (Hal 1) our Village could face construction of an estate approaching 100 dwellings. This would take Hales from its current situation into something entirely different and this would be unacceptable to us.

Hales is a Service Village. While some of our residents are 'commuters' we also have a significant number of residents who have moved here to enjoy it's semi rural location.

4 Due to unacceptable (to all parties) conditions for any vehicle access from Briar Lane access will have to be on to Yarmouth Road. This further aggravates an existing concern about access onto this road where whilst technically limited to 30 MPH a majority of traffic exceeds this speed and often by a substantial margin. The proposed access is on a hill with a tightening bend to the west, going downhill.

5 While the roundabout on the A146 Yarmouth Road junction will ease the dangers of joining the A146 from Hales it will not solve the ongoing difficulty of getting into and out of Norwich for commuting traffic. Adding significantly to the volume of traffic with a major estate will not help this.

6 The Proposed Development mentioned in the HELAA suitability Assessment reads'Residential development of an unspecified number, incorporating a primary school, a small local centre and public open spaces.' is, we understand from reference to the GNLP Team an error and should read 'Low density open market and affordable housing in a sustainable location'.

APPENDIX 1

As at the last census (2011) Hales and Heckingham had 622 residents in 245 households. Since then Heckingham Park has come on stream (44 households, estimate of 100 residents, the four bungalows behind the Masala Garden have been completed, two detached houses in School Lane have been occupied, and two more bungalows are being built in School Lane. Farm buildings in Norton Road have been converted and occupied. A further dozen units with planning permission for Badgers site on the A146 Y Yarmouth Road junction will be built and one unit will be built behind The Beeches on Green Lane.

Therefore 66 households in total with a guesstimate of 150 residents have been built or are in course on construction. This is an increase of 25% in our population and a greater % in the number of dwellings. The existing site for development known as HAL 1 was approved but eh Parish Council on the basis that there would be 10 dwellings involved. It now seems that there is a plan to exceed this number.

I do not want the proposed land to be allocated to the GNLP.

Firstly may I point out we already have an allocated piece of land at HAL1 for 10 homes.

Hales Hospital has been converted into homes recently. There are currently several homes being built at the old site of the Yarmouth Rd workshops. As well as homes already built on the land behind The Masala Gardens.
and other small developments on School Lane.

The lay of the proposed land is on a slope. The Environment agency has already flagged areas on the land as high risk to surface water flooding. The question needs to be asked if the land was built on would it become worse?

Yarmouth Road has become a rat run for commuter traffic and although Hales has a 30 mph speed limit it is rarely adhered to. The level of traffic is getting worse with the additional housing being built in Belton. Yarmouth Road will likely be the choice of route to Norwich from this area as it is already for those who use the new Belton Bypass. There is a concern that the distance of view coming out of HAL1 will not be sufficient to see clearly for the speed that traffic actually comes down the hill from the Yarmouth direction and it will become an accident black spot. I'm sure if you request the figures of those who have been caught speeding when the police use a 'speed trap' on Yarmouth Road it will confirm this. Adding the proposed land to this will increase the traffic coming out onto Yarmouth Road, increasing the risk of an accident.

The proposal does not fit in with the policy of the JCS, regarding the amount of dwellings (10-20) on a service village site. It has been argued that there should be 2 levels of service village (Minutes from the examination of the JCS strategy for Broadband, Norwich and South Norfolk 25.03.10), and smaller service villages (of which Hales would fall into) should not be built on at all.

Taking all this into consideration the proposed allocation should be NOT be approved.

The proposed residences will have a huge impact on the quality of life in the village, as well as the infrastructure, which is simply not designed to withstand a large influx of people/vehicles.

Briar Lane is single track, and an area popular with dog walkers. The facilities, such as current schools; GPs and dentist, simply will not manage the additional pressure on resources. The plan to build on such a pretty area is incongruent with the existence of the village, which is peaceful. Many residents have moved to be in a quiet location to raise families.

Our house and garden run parallel to the GNLP0308 proposed site.
The proposed site is higher than our land particularly at the property end and we would be very concerned about flooding as we were of a view that the field was a flood plain. We would also be concerned about privacy with the site being higher.
We moved here as we wanted a peaceful semi rural location to raise our children, with "fresh air", country views and to enjoy watching wildlife in our garden, all this would disappear.
There is no way Briar Lane could cope with or be suitable for the extra volume of traffic and Yarmouth Road is already a heavily used road with the proposed site opening onto a very dangerous bend.
There have already been problems with lack of phone lines with the old Hales Hospital site and Open Reach seem to be out weekly trying to cope with the amount of houses currently in Hales,let alone adding more.
We know there were concerns about the sewage system coping with the extra sewage from the Hospital site -How will it manage with more from approx.70 households?
We agree with the views of The Hales and Heckingham Parish Council and strongly object the above proposal.

The village infrastructure would not support a large development of the type proposed and it would put further pressure on the services in Loddon which has seen significant developments in recent months.

The site access is also of major concern. The access point is on a slight hill and bend. Whilst the speed limit is 30mph, the majority of traffic exceeds this and the danger of collisions at the site entrance would be significant.

A further concern exists in relation to the A146. The road is already congested at peak times, a major development in Hales would worsen the situation.