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

This wording needs to be amended to reflect a contradictory statement which is far more accurate below in 17.2.

Individual dwellings and farmsteads are NOT sparsely distributed through the remainder of the parish.
The A143, Yarmouth Road runs through the centre of the village with dwellings (houses and dwellings0 sited next to each other on either side of the road, off which other roads run leading to other concentrations of dwellings.
Dwellings are not sparsely distributed as can be seen from the map of the village.

We would like to see as part of the development plans to build a Community Hall to allow residents to run social groups, crèches, hold celebratory and social events as well as providing a hub around which other essential services could be offered to enhance resident's wellbeing and welfare.
We would like you to consider the creation of a local/community shop and café to support and enhance village life which bring people together and provide a sense of community and togetherness.

Hales and Heckingham does not have a range of social and community facilities/services and we are concerned that our village is being turned into a dormitory, with no centre or heart around which village life can revolve.
We do not have a pub, this is factually incorrect. What we do have is an Indian Restaurant, Masala Gardens - https://www.masalagarden.co.uk/ which is open from 5:30pm to 11pm
We do not have a shop, other than the Shell Garage at the top of the village on the A146.
There are no community facilities; we do not have a Village Hall around which events can take place and residents can coalesce.
There are very limited employment opportunities other than a care home, FitzRoy, and Masala Gardens and Health & Mobility scooters are closing down.
We are concerned that further development while welcome, will turn our village into a dormitory that could potentially erode the sense of community. If the village is turned into a dormitory with no other function, the lack of amenities and services that are necessary for residents to lead a healthy and fulfilling life will lead to social isolation and a poor quality of life.
We are also concerned about the strain on local services from GP and dentistry services to access to education which are already buckling under the strain of further development taking place in Loddon. The recruitment of qualified doctors and teachers means that there is already a genuine shortfall in these services for local residents.

Because we have seen throughout the short space of time that the development has been taking place that amendments and changes have been sought by the developer.
The most recent being January 2023 Planning Application 2023/0048 and a variation of Section 106 Agreement to reduce affordable housing provision from 3 units to 2 units.

We would like to make clear, that there must be no vehicular access given to Briar Lane from the VC HAL1 and HAL2 development.
The road is single lane and could not support the additional traffic from the development.
We are also aware from the original design of the development and subsequently updated map, attached, that there appears to be creep of the boundary line towards Briar Lane.
The said map attached, shows the boundary line running directly along Briar Lane and next to a resident’s property to the West of the HAL1 development. This was never agreed to as part of the proposed development in 2018 and assurances were sought in respect to this.
We ask that particular attention be paid to the original boundary line to ensure no creep takes place during the review process and that assurances will be given that at no point now or in the future will vehicular access to Briar Lane be given.

This wording needs to be amended to reflect a contradictory statement which is far more accurate and stated below in 17.2.
17.2. The village has developed along the historical road network of Yarmouth Road, School Lane and Briar Lane. There has been significant modern infill development together with some limited estate development which has resulted in a more nucleated settlement form.

Individual dwellings and farmsteads are not sparsely distributed through the remainder of the parish.
The B1136 Yarmouth Road runs through the centre of the village with dwellings (houses and dwellings sited next to each other on either side of the road, off which other roads run leading to other concentrations of further dwellings.
Dwellings are not sparsely distributed as can be seen from the map of the village attached.