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

Our objection is that the site does not have any support within the village and that the services in the area are not sufficient for a 33 house development. To make the Plan sound, the site should be removed from the Plan.

The plan is not sound in respect of location VC ASL1, Church Road, Aslacton because:

i) It does not have any support from within the village. The Parish Council have held three public meetings where the Plan was discussed. There was no support from within the parishioners with many objections being raised. The Plan is therefore not sound as it contravenes para 13of the South Norfolk Council’s Statement of Community Involvement (updated 2022) in that ignoring community opinion it is not meaningfully involving communities and stakeholders.

ii) The services available in the village are not sufficient for a 33 house development in that:

iia) The sewage system for the village regularly overflows into the main road through the village at times of heavy rainfall. This situation has been extant since the Parish Council first complained in 1975 yet nothing has been done to alleviate the situation which is both an immediate health problem and a pollution issue as the runoff is directly into the Tas river system. The Parish Council consider that it is not enough to say that the sewage system will be upgraded to suit when this has been previously promised but never delivered. The Plan is currently unsound as the sewage system is unfit for further homes to be added and the 33 houses represents an almost 50% increase in the homes within the central village area where the flooding occurs. If the wishes of the people are to be overruled we would recommend that the Plan is resubmitted when the sewage system has been suitably upgraded and proven to be fit for purpose.

iib) A recent development across the road from that proposed has had great difficulty in accessing a suitable electricity system for 15 new houses. The demands of 33 houses, each with the legal necessity for a greater
electricity drawdown than previous new build is considered to be unmanageable within the current village
electricity distribution system. The Plan is therefore currently unsound in that the electricity requirement cannot be met from the current supply system.

iic) The land on which the development is planned is heavy clay and provides restrictions to the SUDS soakaway requirements which will need to be followed. Recent single property applications in the area have had extreme difficulty in providing suitable drainage for rainwater disposal and it is unlikely that a SUDS solution can be found for 33 houses and the required access roads within the planned development area. The Plan is therefore unsound as correct rainwater drainage cannot be provided within the development land.

Our objection is that the site does not have any support within the village and that the services in the area are not sufficient for a 33 house development. To make the Plan sound, the site should be removed from the Plan.