Draft Greater Norwich Local Plan – Part 1 The Strategy

We support the approach to Gypsies and Travellers, Travelling Show People and Residential Caravans.

We support the approach to purpose-built student accommodation.
However, we would raise concerns regarding the potential impacts of large numbers of student accommodation units have upon local communities, in particular when students leave outside term-time. We would also highlight that whilst such accommodation counts towards the local five-year housing land supply it does very little to provide housing for local people and meet local need.

We support the approach to self/custom-build housing.
The proposed new settlement Honingham Thorpe would provide fully serviced plots for those looking to design and/or build their own home.

We support the approach to employment land.
In order to support sustainable employment and economic growth it is imperative to provide high quality housing in close proximity to strategic sites; to attract workers and investment to the area and promote sustainable modes of transport. Honingham Thorpe is well related to the Food Enterprise Park and would support its development, the emerging agri-tech corridor to the west of Norwich, and the move to a post-carbon economy.
Clarion believe that education and skill development is key to securing a pool of high skilled workers, supporting the Greater Norwich offering as a ‘clean growth region’. As such they operate an employment and training service which is free to all of their residents, and they work with a wide range of employers from the NHS to Primark. Clarion Futures has supported over 1,000 people into apprenticeships across 100 industries, providing pre-employment courses to develop confidence and skills together with a mentoring programme. They support over 65 community centres across the country which provide volunteering programmes and digital training. Clarion also take part in an innovative employment and business start-up scheme, and believe that supporting the needs of small, medium and start-up businesses is imperative in order to boost the local economy.
The proposed new settlement Honingham Thorpe would provide support for skills, education and life-long learning. It would generate a holistic approach to the agri-tech sector in combination with the Food Enterprise Park, Norwich Research Park and Easton College, creating a world-leading agri-tech corridor for the post-carbon economy. A range of flexible spaces would be provided within the village centre for small and start-up businesses, whilst provision would be made to support working from home. Employment should not be seen in isolation but in conjunction with a holistic approach to delivering growth, to allow people to live and work in the same area.

We support the approach relating to tourism, leisure, environmental and cultural industries.
The proposed new settlement Honingham Thorpe would provide a new country park, with associated educational facilities and local nature reserve, together with enhancements to the local green infrastructure network.

We support the sequential approach to development of new retailing, leisure, offices and other main town centre uses.

We support the approach to the economy, and retail and leisure provision within the city centre.
However, we would query the ability to deliver the volume of housing proposed for the area in light of previous delivery rates and the proportion of carried forward allocations.

We would raise concern regarding the proposed approach for East Norwich. This area is subject to significant flood risk, contamination, infrastructure constraints, and is located adjacent to The Broads and a number of heritage assets. These constraints, together with the significant investment required to deliver development in this location has seen no scheme progress despite previous allocations and approved planning applications.
As a result of these constraints, in particular the significant areas of flood risk, we would query the compatibility of significant housing delivery in this area with the approach to meeting the challenges of climate change and the sequential approach to development, and the proposed Climate Change and Sustainability Statements as set out within the Draft Plan. This is particularly pertinent as extreme weather conditions are predicted to become more frequent, and much has been available in the press recently regarding predicted sea and river level increases in the region.
It is considered that a high level of information regarding deliverability in this area should be required before previous allocations are carried forward and new allocations are made, so as to ensure housing need is met and a five-year housing land supply can be secured. Whilst the regeneration of the area is desirable, it is considered that by virtue of the area characteristics outlined, the proposed scheme would be more suitable as a long-term initiative considered when the Greater Norwich Local Plan is reviewed.

We would raise concern over the ability to, and sustainability of, continuing to ‘bolt-on’ significant housing development to existing settlements. Such continuing urban sprawl is not considered to represent truly sustainable development, can often result in the creation of non-walkable neighbourhoods separated from services and facilities, places increased pressure on local infrastructure, and often comprise identikit housing which fails to adequately respect local character and create community cohesion. In recent years, development within the urban fringe has failed to deliver attractive development with its own character, or meaningful open space to provide the ‘green lungs’ of the city.

As with the approach to the urban fringe parishes, we would raise concern regarding the deliverability, and sustainability of additional ‘bolt-on’ developments in these locations. Such continuing urban sprawl is not considered to represent truly sustainable development, can often result in the creation of non-walkable neighbourhoods separated from services and facilities, places increased pressure on local infrastructure, and often comprise identikit housing which fail to adequately respect local character and create community cohesion.