South Norfolk: Residents to have their say on new homes

The consultation launches on the 7 June and is an opportunity for local people to comment on future sites for new homes. The consultation will last for a period of eight weeks and will close on Monday 2 August.

The Village Clusters Housing Allocations Plan will be a new Local Plan document, allocating sites for a minimum of 1,200 homes in smaller villages across South Norfolk.

The smaller villages across South Norfolk’s parishes have been divided into 48 different clusters. These clusters are largely based on primary school catchment areas. Sites for housing development in larger villages and market towns, and sites for non-housing uses such as employment are being dealt with through the Greater Norwich Local Plan.   

Factors including access to local services and facilities, the suitability of local roads, and the risk of flooding are key considerations in deciding which sites will be identified for development.

Due to the rural characteristics of South Norfolk’s villages, in most cases, sites allocated through the plan are expected to be smaller in size, typically being capable of accommodating between 12 to 25 homes. Sites have been distributed as widely as possible across suitable villages in order to achieve a variety of housing opportunities for different people, help provide opportunities for small and medium sized builders and to sustain the vitality the rural areas by supporting a broad range of rural services. Larger sites may be proposed where they offer the opportunity to achieve particular benefits that could not be achieved through a smaller site, where a site needs to provide significant infrastructure improvements or in circumstances where a small uplift on housing numbers is required to ensure that overall housing needs are met.

Approximately 450 sites located within the village clusters, and which have been put forward for consideration, have been assessed to see which may or may not be suitable for future housing development. This includes sites that were originally submitted for consideration as part of work to produce the Greater Norwich Local Plan, and previous consultation comments relating to those sites have also been included in the assessment.    

Those taking part in the consultation will be able to comment on the sites that have been assessed. It remains possible for anyone wishing to promote a potential development site for consideration to do so through this public consultation.

The consultation will be available on the South Norfolk Council website from 7 June, where you will be able to view an interactive map showing the proposals and leave your comments online. You will also be able to access a virtual ‘exhibition room’ which will explain the background to the document and current consultation, as well as provide access to a wealth of related information.

Following this consultation, it is anticipated that the final, proposed plan will be published in early 2022 before being submitted to the Planning Inspectorate later that year for independent examination. It is expected that the document will be adopted by the council in early 2023.

For further details, please contact the Place Shaping Team at localplan.snc@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk or localplan.bdc@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk.