Draft Local Plan-Part 2 Site Allocations

The decision to remove site GNLP 0041 as unreasonable is vastly disappointing not only for the future aspirations of Wroxham FC to progress within the National Football Pyramid but to provide a Community Football hub for the residents to benefit from resulting from your overall growth plans for the area.

Our use of the site for football purposes has reached capacity with over 80 games being played annually and this means that the pitch is becoming below standard as more use/demand is made from it.

There appears to be no joined up thinking between the Call for sites strategy and the adopted Playing Pitch Strategy which recommends Wroxham FC be considered for relocation in Broadland growth triangle as part of a sports hub.

We believe the site should be reconsidered for re-instatement within the Regulation 19 Pre-submission of the GNLP Local Plan. We acknowledge that there is no clear site to relocate to at present but this has more to do with “politics” & the failure of the main North Rackheath development to progress than any other reason; when this does move forward there will be ample opportunity to identify a site and to apply for grants from e.g. The Football Foundation and other funding sources to help provide the investment needed. Gorleston Football Club for example are currently applying for funding towards a new stadium partnership with East Norfolk 6th Form College as part of plans to relocate from Emerald Park which will be redeveloped. The community football hub at Youngs Park for Aylsham Football Club within Broadland District was largely funded from investment by the Football Foundation. We now have a strong junior section from u6’s upwards to u18’s as well as the Senior & women’s teams who play at Trafford Park. This will enable us to make a strong business case for a new facility.

We believe we would have the support of politicians and even Wroxham Parish Council supported the development of the site during the current consultation.

We could submit a planning application but believe this would be enhanced by inclusion of the site in the GNLP Local Plan.

This is our assessment of the site:


Site Summary
Site is c. 1.8ha with c. 1ha deliverable. Capacity for 20-30 dwellings.

Planning Designations
Relatively free from designations but is located within the Wroxham Conservation Area. Lies beyond, but adjacent to, the settlement boundary of Wroxham.
Traffic implications – Skinners Lane isn’t especially wide and so whether it would be suitable for a scheme of 20-30 dwellings would need to be clarified.
Proximity to railway track will require an appropriate offset and poses potential noise related issues.
Emerging Plan indicates that there are traffic capacity issues in Wroxham which is limiting development.

Planning History
There have been a number of planning applications associated with the site’s operations as a Football Club. But we have now reached a limit on what can be done with the site.

Aside from the development of 100 dwellings at Salhouse Road, there has been little major development in Wroxham. The Core Strategy’s identification of Wroxham’s capacity to deliver 100-200 dwellings indicates that there is scope for further development in the settlement.

Core Strategy (2014)
Wroxham is a Key Service Centre within the settlement hierarchy (tier 3). The JCS indicates that Wroxham should accommodate small-medium sized allocations of 100-200 dwellings.


Development Management DPD
Policy GC2 – Location of New Development – Would permit development which does not result in any significant adverse impact will be permitted where it accords with a specific allocation and/or policy of the development plan.
- Location outside Settlement Boundary is not, therefore, considered to be detrimental to

Policy CSU2 – Loss of Community Facilities or Local Services – Allows redevelopment if facility is to be replaced.
- We could seek redevelopment under this policy but it would be better if the site is included in the GNLP Local Plan

Assessment
Long and short of it is you can’t develop viable playing pitches/sports facilities without replacing them with similar or better provision (both in terms of quantity and quality).
We can’t do this until a new site has been identified but the foundations would start from the allocation of the current site in the Local Plan.
Proposals would accord with the Development Plan.
o Capacity for Wroxham to grow further (limited development has come forward in last 10 years, and CS suggests up to 200 dwellings could come forward);
o Proposals would accord with Policy CSU2 as facilities would be replaced with similar/better provision.
o The site should not be discounted yet, as work can be undertaken to assess the business case for its relocation

If it is the intention of GNLP to provide excellent leisure facilities, give US a chance to assist in this, instead of the higgledy-piggledy provision we have currently!