
Key site-wide documents submitted to enable the delivery of Attleborough SUE
Further to the public information sessions and council briefings, Homes England has submitted the Design Code and Structuring Plan for Attleborough Sustainable Urban Extension (SUE).
Whilst Homes England is responsible for the unlocking the construction of Phase 1 of the development, it is also required to progress these site wide documents to set the parameters for all future developers across the entire site.
Those documents, which are secured by way of the discharge of conditions associated with the original outline planning permission, have been submitted to Breckland District Council. This is further accompanied by a “Section 73” planning application, that seeks to make appropriate minor changes to the proposals to facilitate onsite delivery.
The application seeks to make the following key changes to the approved outline proposals:
- A realignment of the Link Road outside of the limit of deviation shown on the approved Parameter Plans, to make is safer to use for both drivers and pedestrians. This is because the current layout is very straight which encourages speeding. Unlike a bypass, the link road will pass through residential areas, shops and two schools so traffic and pedestrian safety is extra important.;
- The change of the junction at Link Road and High Street from a roundabout to a T-junction;
- Minor amendments to the shape and alignment of the land use cells, primarily as a result of the realigned Link Road, but not amending the number of homes that have been approved, the level of affordable housing or the amount of open space and the Linear Park; and
- Minor adjustments to the densities of a small number of land use cells, and an increase of 1.5 metres in height on one small internal-facing cell, to allow for both 2 and limited 2.5 storey house types.
As a result of these changes, revised Parameter Plans have been produced and need to be approved by the Council. Amendments to the following conditions are sought as part of the submitted application:
- Condition 3 which relates to the Parameter Plans;
Minor amendments to the wording of the following conditions are also sought:
- Condition 4 (Structuring Plan): Amendment to add an agreed review mechanism;
- Condition 5 (Design Code): Amendment to clarify the format of these submissions and to add an agreed review mechanism;
- Condition 8 (Demolition): Amendment to clarify the definition of site clearance works, and;
- Condition 25 (Design of the Buckenham Road/Bunns Bank Roundabout): Amendment to require submission of Heritage Impact Assessment .
In addition, the application documents have been amended to take into account Natural England’s announcement on 16th March 2022 that new developments going forward within the catchments of the Norfolk Broads and River Wensum would need to demonstrate nutrient neutrality when going through the planning process. As a result, we have undertaken a review of both surface and foul water catchment for Attleborough and can confirm that the area drains to the north are not connected to the River Wensum or Broads catchments. Based on the evidence available, it is confirmed that the Attleborough Sustainable Urban Extension SUE is not in “hydraulic continuity” with the River Wensum or Broads catchments.
Whilst the changes affect the parameters set for the outline permission, all of the matters that are reserved at outline stage remain as such, including: access; appearance; landscaping; layout; and scale. Details concerning these reserved matters are proposed to be brought forward later this year, the first being the application to deliver the initial section of the proposed link road. Strategies concerning the delivery of elements of the S106 agreement will be submitted at the same time.