South Norfolk Village Clusters Housing Allocations Plan (Reg. 19 Pre-submission Draft)

WPC would like the plan to be changed to revert back to the Reg 18 plan, which stated that the preferred sites of SN0278, SN02062 and SN0268 had been accepted and adopted (VCH Plan of mid-2021). We believe that site SN0268SL was turned down as was not in an appropriate position for development due to its separation from the main area of development. WPC would therefore request plan reverts back to the two agreed sites SN0278 and SN02062 as per Reg 18. With regards to facilities the village has lost its shop in 2022 and the nursery will close in July 2023. Therefore, it is a shop that this village desperately needs above anything else.

Under the terms of soundness we do not believe that the evidence supplied by the promoter is proportionate regarding the scale of the development and the provision of adequate benefits to the village. We do not consider that Reg 19 meets with Objective 3 for Woodton: ‘That the scale of development is in keeping with the village size and rural aspect of location.’ With 27 houses currently under construction, the additional 50 homes is not proportionate with the size or infrastructure of a small rural village as it represents an increase of over 30% at a time when the shop has closed in 2022 and the pre-school will close in 2023.

On this basis, Woodton Parish council believes that the amended plan is not justified as there were two reasonable alternatives which have now been disregarded (see below). The ‘new evidence’ supplied by the promoter appears to be based on a new pathway and space for a pre-school which is no longer relevant as the pre-school is closing in July 2023. The third benefit of additional community space was never requested by the village or required as we already have three well-used community spaces for Woodton. Woodton PC does not believe that this meets your Objective 2: ‘To deliver improvements to local service facilities and infrastructure.’

We also consider that the legal process has not been followed correctly as within your SCI documentation it is stated that Parish Councils are considered a ‘specific’ consultation body and we do not consider that Woodton Parish council has been fully consulted up to the end of the Reg 18 phase. You state in your SCI (updated 2022) ‘that the Council must involve any of the specific and general consultation bodies that it feels may have an interest in the proposed document. Therefore in failing to make Woodton PC aware of the amended site (signed off in May 2022) we do not believe we have been fully consulted.

We were not informed of the changes to the Reg 18 plan in which Woodton PC had made recommendations upon and given support of the preferred sites (a smaller site at SN0278 and SN0262 and SN0268 with low level development in a linear fashion alongside Church Road). Two sites were subsequently accepted and adopted as the preferred sites in the former draft of the VCH Plan in mid-2021 with Woodton PC’s consent. Woodton PC feels that these reasonable alternatives do meet Objective 3 for Woodton: That the scale of development is in keeping with the village size and rural aspect of location.

In May 2022, these preferred sites were apparently amended to include the deselection of SN0268 which was downgraded to Shortlisted without consulting Woodton PC. Also a newly drawn site plan for SN0278 (now identified in Reg 19 as VCW001) was submitted in May 2022 stating that ‘new evidence from the promoter had suggested that this single site would be more suitable for development of up to 50 homes’ as infill rather than the previous reasonable alternatives offering low level development alongside Church Road. The amended site (VCW001) now runs south of the school and immediately to the west of existing houses in The Street.

Significantly, Woodton PC was never consulted about this change of location by South Norfolk Council in May 2022 under the Reg 18 phase. We were only made aware of the extent of the proposed single development when the Reg 19 plan was issued and we were approached directly by the promoter ESCO (in conjunction with Crocus) at a Woodton Parish Council meeting on 10 January 2023. We were then able to view the full Documentation which subsequently became public on 23 January 2023.

In conclusion Woodton Parish Council does not think the plan has been produced in accordance with South Norfolk Council’s SCI in relation to site VCW001.