PLANNING COMMITTEE

PLANNING APPLICATION – 20200202

RACKHEATH Development of up to 165 Dwellings and the Provision of 0.4 Hectares of Land for Community Use with all Matters Reserved Except Access (Outline) PARISH Location : Land at Green Lane East, Rackheath

COUNCIL Main points to the objection: Pavilion • No prior consultation with Rackheath Parish Council despite this applications impact on the community. Green Lane West • Further increase of housing on this development from 130 to 165 homes. Rackheath • No benefit to the Rackheath community in terms of infrastructure or financial return. Due NR13 6LT to location of development, natural gravitation for residents would be towards Rackheath services, but we would receive no income from the development to support the increased impact on the community. • The recent closure of the Broad Lane junction has provided a physical boundary barrier between this site and the parish it would serve (Great & Little Plumstead) meaning residents on this site have no easy direct access to their parish community and providing no integration with its Parish and Community. Green Lane East is now a dead-end road. • Another smaller development proposed outside the call for sites plan/5 year land supply impacting further on schools, health and infrastructure and transport routes. We fully support all points raised by CRPE. • Transport: (paragraph numbers from transport assessment referenced) o Rackheath is still without a direct bus route to meaning further development is not sustainable. o Limited bus service on the main road in Rackheath ( Road). Peak times poorly serviced. o No plans to upgrade main arterial road into Norwich (Salhouse Road) – earliest would be 2023 but is reliant on central government funding – road is currently too narrow for 2 HGVs to pass safely and is already feeling the strain from the NDR, new developments both from Rackheath and . o (2.1.6) Plans for GT16 development is far off in the future – whilst in the meantime small developers are being permitted with little regard for infrastructure e.g. schools, no further employment sites locally, no rapid bus route, no safe cycle routes to any work location in the city (only leisure routes around the NDR) and no railway halts planned. o (2.2.4) Sole & Heel roundabout is already under strain from the increased volumes of traffic since the opening of the NDR and will be impacted further with the additional permitted sites (600+ homes). We will also have the impact of GT16 generated traffic in the future (4.5K houses) – another site will only increase the impact and heighten risk of accidents. o (3.18) Bus stops no longer in use on Green Lane West – no public transport serving site. o (3.27) It would be more useful fort developers to work together and subsidize public transport and work with bus companies to improve services and to ensure their sites are sustainable and improve services for communities. o (4.11) Car Parking at the proposed medical centre – parking spaces allocated may meet parking standards but it has been evident at other local surgeries that parking is insufficient (and they have provided far more parking than this site has allocated ). This facility would attract users from outside the Rackheath area and would lead to parking on the streets both within this development and on GLE. • & Hoveton doctors have confirmed that they are not interested in operating from this location. The building being proposed is not in scale with our community and needs. • (6.2) We should not have further development pushed onto our community because community assets are being offered – these applications should be received in isolation.

Development Design Issues • This development would not be governed by the Rackheath Neighbourhood Plan we would be wary of urbanised housing that does not meet our NP impacting on our village feel. Housing must be in line with those already in the area and match density. • Development accessed by a single access road – 165+ cars is a huge impact on a small road with only one way out (no access to Broad Lane), likely to cause rat runs through Vera Road. • There are no plans to link this development to the adjoining Lovells Development • There is a query over flooding which has been identified in the North and South of the development and in such circumstances residents more likely to approach Rackheath Parish Council for a resolution. • There are no joined-up cycle routes or footpaths. • Gas Main on site • No commitment to affordable housing • Unadopted roads not supported by Rackheath Parish Council • No open space management plan referenced.

We wholly object to this application.