Wreningham Parish Council has published here its proposed comments on the South Norfolk Village Clusters Consultation relating to a large proposed development in Wreningham.

We urge residents to give their views to the consultation, which you need to do by August 2 and which can be done via the Consultation website (you need to register with site before making a comment): https://vchap.exhibition.app/

The Wreningham/Ashwellthorpe/Fundenhall section can be seen here:

https://south-norfolk.oc2.uk/document/1/697#d697

There are two questions relating directly to Wreningham – questions 170 and question 172.

The council’s comments are below and parishioners are welcome to pick points which they think are relevant and include them in their own submission if they wish:

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Wreningham Parish Council submission to questions 170 and question 172.

QUESTION 170: Do you agree with the extent of the Settlement Limit in Wreningham and any changes proposed?

SUMMARY: Wreningham Parish Council sees no reason to have the Settlement Limit enlarged for the reasons given below.

In the current existing South Norfolk Local Plan, adopted in 2015 and covering up to 2026, ten houses were allocated to Wreningham. Since 2015 no fewer than 25 houses have been built, meaning Wreningham is already at almost double the previous set limit with no further development in the next five years.

The GNLP which resulted in the ten-house Church Road development, included the comment that Wreningham roads were at capacity. The point is repeated in this consultation document saying “The road capacity of the village is a limiting factor”.

All roads into Wreningham have considerable highways constraints in terms of narrowness of roads, twisting and turning with several blind corners – they are not conducive to the additional traffic 25 homes would introduce both during and after construction.

We would suggest that with some small scale infill development within the existing settlement limit, Wreningham will have already provided its fair share of development to meet housing targets.

A couple of new sites are about to enter the planning process we believe – one for two houses at Pear Tree Cottage on Wymondham Road and one for around six homes at the brownfield former Spratts Coaches site at the main village crossroads. Both are much more suitable developments, on already developed brownfield locations, within the existing settlement limit and not facing the flooding and drainage issues which a development of 25 houses on the agricultural open landscape site of SN2183 would inevitably cause.

Any development which proposes 52 houses (SN2183) in greenfield site outside the settlement boundary  is completely out of context/scale for a village of our size. It is five times any previous development.

There is a primary school in the village but it is already at capacity, including two mobile classrooms which have a limited lifespan. It is unlikely that many children from the new homes would gain access unless at reception age.

QUESTION 172: Do you support or object to the allocation of the preferred site in Wreningham (south of Wymondham Road)?

SUMMARY: Wreningham Parish Council objects to the proposed large development on Wymondham Road because it believes that the village has already had its fair share of development and there are other opportunities within the existing settlement limit to facilitate more appropriate development.

In Wreningham, windfall infill development has and should provide its share of the extra homes needed, including half a dozen at the brownfield Spratts Coaches site.

Any development which proposes 52 houses in a greenfield site outside the development boundary  is completely out of context/scale for a village of our size. It is five times any previous development.

Village character and Settlement limit:

The SN2183 site on Wymondham Road is completely out of character with the existing linear ribbon development of Wreningham, in both scale and density. Described as a “reasonable alternative” site only within the whole consultation (and only “preferred” within the context of even less suitable sites within Wreningham), we would suggest it should only be considered when all “preferred” sites within South Norfolk have been developed.

There is nothing even comparable within the village of anything more than five houses away from the roadside and nothing outside the settlement limit. The existing four-home cul-de-sac on Wymondham Road is on the brownfield site of a former farm.

The GNLP (5.89 Wreningham) suggested incremental growth would be most appropriate for Wreningham (including the already developed site GNLP0431 at the top West end of Wymondham Road for three houses), rather than a much larger single development.

Drainage / flood risk / sewage

Wreningham is a “wet” parish, as recent flooding of gardens on Wymondham Road and Ashwellthorpe Roads and blockage of both roads for significant periods due to flooding around and since Christmas 2020, demonstrate.

It seems that the existing drainage and sewage system on Wymondham Road is already at capacity given the issues it is regularly throwing up. An almost doubling of homes on the road would surely overwhelm this.

According to existing flood maps, SN2183 sits directly on an area of significant surface water flood risk (which does not apply to any of the other already rejected sites within Wreningham), with implications for those further downstream from it.

See flood risk map below on gov.co.uk, On the map link use drop down to ‘Flood Risk from Surface Water’ and ‘Extent of Flooding’

https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/long-term-flood-risk/map?easting=616131&northing=298347&address=2630155186

A much smaller planning application in 2019 (2019/0644) for six houses on the same site as SN2183 was recommended for refusal due to “unacceptable flood risk” (letter from Shirley Bishop, South Norfolk Environmental Quality Team to Glen Beaumont). Surface water flooding of between 30 and 90 cms was quoted for most of the suggested plots. The application was quickly withdrawn after this was pointed out by Mr Beaumont to the applicant.

In March 2019, Glen Beaumont wrote to the developer to say: “I am not convinced that the social, economic and environmental benefits of six dwellings outside of the development boundary are sufficiently overriding to warrant recommending that the application is approved.”

We would ask how a 25-home development is now deemed acceptable when a six-home one is not, on flood risk grounds among others.

If any development is deemed necessary then a water management plan should not only encompass the development site and surrounding homes and roads but also those downstream from it. Digging out existing ditches upstream of the site and no filling in of them on the site would be necessary in addition to any mitigations.

Rurality and ecology

Any development should ensure the rurality of the village is maintained with no loss of trees, hedges, habitats and ditches. The village is a rural one and requests no loss of trees, hedges and other habitats. The still essentially rural nature of Wymondham Road with fields completely down one side, would be destroyed by such an intensive, deep development stretching away from the roadside.

Great Crested Newts have reportedly been seen in nearby Long’s Wood and a survey to see if they are present on the SN2183 site needs to be requested before any development.

Highways

All roads into Wreningham have considerable highways constraints in terms of narrowness of roads, twisting and turning with several blind corners – they are not conducive to the additional traffic 25 homes would introduce both during and after construction.

These highways constraints have largely ruled out other proposed development sites in Wreningham and they apply equally, if not more, to  SN2183, given the blind bend at the top of Wymondham Road.

School

The SN2183 site appears to have been chosen because it is the nearest to the village primary school, but that school is already at capacity, including two mobile classrooms which have a limited lifespan. It is unlikely that many children from the new homes would gain access unless at reception age.

Alternative site

It has been suggested to the parish council that if the owner of The Poplars and the SN2183 site wishes to see such a development then a more suitable location would be behind The Poplars itself with an existing road already in place and on a brownfield site which would avoid the flood-risk area on SN2183 and not encroach onto existing views and open countryside. It would also avoid the blind bend highway constraint at the Wymondham Road/Ashwellthorpe Road junction directly opposite a primary school (though no roads into Wreningham are without considerable highways constraints both for construction traffic and the extra traffic generated by such a large development.