Swannington with Alderford and Little Witchingham Parish Council

Swannington with Alderford and Little Witchingham Parish Council From: Mr M C Rust – Councillor with responsibility for planning issues. Beech House Church Lane Swannington Norfolk NR9 5NP 01603 860613 [email protected] Mrs. R Sainsbury Planning Control Broadland District Council Thorpe Lodge 1 Yarmouth Road Thorpe St Andrew Norwich NR7 0DU 31st January 2014 Planning Application Number: 20131739 Erection of 5 No. Dwellings o Land adjacent Swan Close Swannington On behalf of the Parish Council, thank you for the opportunity to comment on the subject application A special meeting to gauge the appetite of parishioners for further development in the village, namely the application for outline planning on land adjacent Swan Close Swannington, resulted in the majority of those attending expressing objections to further development in the village. Concerns raised included :- • No amenities in village • Bus service will probably soon be cut, forcing people to drive • Access road dangerous • Prefer properties for young families • Too many cars parked at present, more traffic reduces safety • Drainage already working to capacity • Additional facilities could be sought in exchange for support • Dislike of play area as bargaining chip • Land adjacent to stream is too wet for a play area • Flooded garden in Swan Close – more concrete might exacerbate the problem • The majority of houses being built are bigger than the village needs. • Not providing any smaller houses as starter homes/attractive to young families/retirement homes. A show of hands indicated that, of those present, 14 were against the development and 3 were in favor stating:- • Village needs more people • Only meeting places in village are church and play area Other Parishioners have supported the scheme, both verbally and in writing, giving the possible loss of the play area and the hard work of many volunteers over many years, as valid reason. The parish Council has considered the points raised, and have discussed at length the pros and cons of the application, which includes the gift of the play area and a monetary sum to the village. The current lease on the play area expires in 2015, with no firm commitment from the owner that the lease will be renewed. The Parish Council has studied the site and plans, and consider the buildings depicted in the drawings, would not cause a significant loss of enjoyment of property, to the neighboring residents in Swan Close, but agree with parishioners that local infrastructure needs, need thoroughly assessing before any commitment is made. There are also concerns that should outline consent be achieved, the scheme could change dramatically when a full planning application is submitted. In conclusion, the Parish Council not wishing to risk the loss of the play area, does not object to the application Per-se, providing the scheme depicted remains unchanged, and meets the criteria required by the Planning and Highway Committees. The Parish Council also considers that Environmental Health should advise on the possibility of noise nuisance resulting from Children's activities on the proposed dwelling closest the play area. .

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