New, Revised and Small Sites

Whilst it is important that Diss Town Council should take the opportunity to respond to this consultation, any comments made about specific sites are without prejudice to land allocations that may come forward as part of the Diss and District Neighbourhood Plan. The timing of this consultation is premature to the Neighbourhood Plan.
The Town Council remains very concerned about the impact of any future developments in the town irrespective of size, without appropriate investment in infrastructure, which is a significant on-going concern. In the last eight years we have seen a 15% population growth with little or no investment in infrastructure.
The Town Council also fully supports the concerns expressed by the Campaign to Protect Rural England
(CPRE Norfolk) who have urged the Greater Norwich Local Plan to look again at:
* The real level of demand in the housing market, which is much lower than all government predictions.
* That housing delivery tests should be less stringently enforced and that the use of phasing and a reserve list should be made.
* That ''cherry picking'' of new sites in the Greater Norwich Local Plan could occur if land banking is allowed to happen rather than phasing of allocated sites and also the use of reserve sites.
* Campaign for Rural England considers windfall sites should count as contributing. At the moment they are not.

The call for sites in the Diss Town Ward area have illustrated some of the Campaign to Protect Rural England concerns as if all the sites which have been put forward were developed then there would be capacity for over 3,000 dwellings. Even the Joint Core Strategy only calls for 300 dwellings for the Diss area, which is the figure the Diss and District Neighbourhood Plan is considering.
Reference the new sites
1. GNLP2104 - mainly located in Roydon but with a substantial part of the plot in Heywood. 50.51 hectares for housing, which would have capacity for in excess of 1500 dwellings. This is unacceptable as it would need significant infrastructure changes in Diss and is outside the requirements of the Joint Core Strategy that Diss and District Neighbourhood Plan is working with.
2. GNLP2067 - located off Victoria Road. Area 0.42 hectares on flood zone 2. May be suitable for the proposed repair and retail warehouse, business and offices.

Diss Town Council does not wish to prejudice the work of the emerging Diss and District Neighbourhood Plan but equally felt it should take the opportunity to comment on the additional sites.

Whilst it is important that Diss Town Council should take the opportunity to respond to this consultation, any comments made about specific sites are without prejudice to land allocations that may come forward as part of the Diss and District Neighbourhood Plan. The timing of this consultation is premature to the Neighbourhood Plan.
The Town Council remains very concerned about the impact of any future developments in the town irrespective of size, without appropriate investment in infrastructure, which is a significant on-going concern. In the last eight years we have seen a 15% population growth with little or no investment in infrastructure.
The Town Council also fully supports the concerns expressed by the Campaign to Protect Rural England
(CPRE Norfolk) who have urged the Greater Norwich Local Plan to look again at:
* The real level of demand in the housing market, which is much lower than all government predictions.
* That housing delivery tests should be less stringently enforced and that the use of phasing and a reserve list should be made.
* That ''cherry picking'' of new sites in the Greater Norwich Local Plan could occur if land banking is allowed to happen rather than phasing of allocated sites and also the use of reserve sites.
* Campaign for Rural England considers windfall sites should count as contributing. At the moment they are not.

The call for sites in the Diss Town Ward area have illustrated some of the Campaign to Protect Rural England concerns as if all the sites which have been put forward were developed then there would be capacity for over 3,000 dwellings. Even the Joint Core Strategy only calls for 300 dwellings for the Diss area, which is the figure the Diss and District Neighbourhood Plan is considering.
Reference the new sites
1. GNLP2104 - mainly located in Roydon but with a substantial part of the plot in Heywood. 50.51 hectares for housing, which would have capacity for in excess of 1500 dwellings. This is unacceptable as it would need significant infrastructure changes in Diss and is outside the requirements of the Joint Core Strategy that Diss and District Neighbourhood Plan is working with.
2. GNLP2067 - located off Victoria Road. Area 0.42 hectares on flood zone 2. May be suitable for the proposed repair and retail warehouse, business and offices.

Diss Town Council does not wish to prejudice the work of the emerging Diss and District Neighbourhood Plan but equally felt it should take the opportunity to comment on the additional sites.