South Norfolk Village Clusters Housing Allocations Plan (Reg. 18 Draft)
1. Alburgh and Denton
Form and character
Alburgh
Alburgh is a linear village of mainly single plot frontage development with a mixture of housing types forming a central core along The Street, with a short spur along part of Church Road. A ribbon of scattered farmsteads and dwellings extends northwards towards Mill Road, and an open area containing farmsteads and some isolated dwellings extends southwards towards Piccadilly Corner. The area is characterised by many hedgerows and a number of mature trees, and is generally surrounded by open fields affording distant views. The village is linked to Hempnall and the B1527 to the north via The Street; and is linked to the A143 to the south via Tunbeck Road and Station Road, thereby on to Beccles, Bungay, Harleston and Diss.
Denton
Denton is in two principle parts. The main part extends from part way up Trunch Hill in the south to Skinners' Meadow in the north. A smaller and more scattered part is situated a quarter of a mile to the north and includes Uplands Terrace and some development along Darrow Green Road. Development is generally single plot depth fronting the road, except Skinners' Meadow and Globe Close.
There are many scattered former farm houses and conversions of former agricultural buildings. The attractive valley of the Beck runs through the extreme south of the parish with three tributaries flowing from the north. Trunch Hill runs down into the main valley. There are many trees and hedgerows particularly in the southern part of the parish which give it an attractive rural character
Services and Community Facilities
The cluster contains a village hall at the junction of Low Road and Church Road, and preschool facilities. The village also has some recreation facilities and a limited bus service. Denton shares a Primary and nursery school with Alburgh.
Settlement Limit and Constraints
Alburgh
The Settlement Limit has been drawn to include the main built-up area of the settlement around The Street. The remainder of Alburgh is very dispersed and therefore unsuitable for the creation of a Settlement Limit without leading to significant development which would fundamentally alter the character of the area.
No alterations are proposed to the existing Settlement Limit.
Denton
The Settlement Limit has been drawn to include the main built form of the settlement to allow for limited infill development only, due to the rural nature of the area and limited local facilities. No alterations are proposed to the existing Settlement Limit.
It is noted that Alburgh primary school is operating at or near capacity.
QUESTION 5: Do you agree with the extent of the Settlement Limit and any changes proposed? If not, please explain what further changes should be made.
Preferred and Shortlisted Sites
4 sites have been promoted for consideration, none of which were identified as preferred sites or shortlisted sites.
Rejected Sites
The following site(s) were promoted for development but were rejected on the basis of information available at the time of assessment.
| Site | Location and reasons not preferred for allocation: |
| SN00168 | Land at north of Upland Terrace Council houses, Norwich Road, Denton The site as promoted extends to over 3ha, although the site promoter has indicated that a much smaller scheme (circa 4 dwellings) is being sought. Notwithstanding this, the site would extend a small group of former Council Houses in a location which is detached from the main part of the village (which lies to the south) and would erode the rural character of the locality. The site is well beyond 3km from the catchment primary school and connectivity to local services is poor. |
| SN00193 | Land at Upland Farm, Denton The site as promoted extends to over 5ha; however, even a smaller element of the site would be detached from the main part of the village (which lies to the south) and would effectively be an isolated group of dwellings in the countryside, eroding the rural character of the locality. The site is well beyond 3km from the catchment primary school and connectivity to local services is poor. |
| SN4011 | Land to South and West of Church Road, Alburgh The site is relatively well located for access to the school and village hall and creating accesses for frontage accesses (although improvements sought by Highways could urbanise this rural location). Linear, frontage development would also be in keeping with the character of this part of the village; however, this form of development would require the loss of extensive roadside hedging. The site is in the setting of a listed building and also has views across to the Grade 1 listed church, meaning that development at the western end of the site (either side of the Old Hall Farm drive) would have a detrimental impact on the setting of these designated heritage assets. |
| SN4031SL | Land adjacent to no1 Station Road, Alburgh The site is promoted for a Settlement Limit extension in a part of the village with no existing Settlement Limit. The character of the area is of mixed development (small scale industry, agriculture and residential), but very much dispersed in pattern. The site is at the edge of the designated River Valley and in the vicinity of four listed properties; whilst these in themselves might not prevent development, creating a Settlement Limit in this location could encourage development that would seriously erode the character of the area. Previous applications on this site for an outstanding county house (under the NPPF) and a sustainable (then Code 6) home have both been dismissed at appeal within the past 6 years. |
(6) QUESTION 6: Do you think that any of the rejected sites should be shortlisted or preferred for allocation? If so, please explain your answer.
To find out more about the Village Clusters Housing Allocations Plan, please visit our Virtual Exhibition.
