CONSULTATION NOW CLOSED
Introducing North Walsham West.
The new North Norfolk Local Plan is proposing a large mixed-use development to the west of North Walsham. North Walsham West will be a new community with around 1,800 new homes, jobs, community facilities, open spaces and the physical and social infrastructure necessary to support the development.
On these web pages, we have outlined some initial ideas about how the site might be developed. For each topic area we have included a Draft Aim and a number of Key Requirements that we propose that the development should comply with. At this stage we have also included an Illustrative Plan for the site showing one option for how it could be laid out.
None of this is fixed at this early stage, and we are asking for your help and ideas to input into the preparation of a Development Brief for the site. We will modify the Aims and Requirements after this consultation and use them as a basis for preparing the detailed Brief. You can make comments and suggest alternatives by clicking on the Give Feedback button at the bottom of each page.
Why are we engaging now?
The purpose of this engagement is to seek your views on how the North Walsham West site could be developed. We want to make sure that the new development is properly planned and is delivered in a comprehensive way which takes account of local views and expectations. We are proposing to prepare a Development Brief for the site and we are seeking your views on the main principles which will help us prepare the Brief. To develop these, some engagement has already taken place including discussions with North Walsham Town Council, site owners, agents, developers, service providers and Norfolk County Council.
This is the first stage of the process, the comments received from this engagement will then inform the next stages, working towards formal public consultation on a Draft Development Brief in late summer 2021, before a final version is prepared in the new year. We propose that this will then be formally approved by the District Council and used as a basis for considering the acceptability of future planning applications on the site.
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Stage 1. Engagement on Draft Aims and Key Requirements (This Stage) - May/June 2021.
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Stage 2. Draft Development Brief Published for Consultation - Sept/Oct 2021.
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Stage 3. Final Brief prepared - Spring 2022.
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Stage 4. Brief Approved by Council as formal Supplementary Planning Guidance - following Independent Examination of Local Plan by a government appointed Inspector.
What is a Development Brief?
The purpose of a Development Brief is to provide an agreed framework for the development, setting out clearly and simply the kind of place that should be created, including a Vision and a set of rules which future planning applications should adhere to. It acts as a blueprint and sets out site-specific principles to guide future development proposals and supports the adopted policies of the new North Norfolk Local Plan. Development Briefs are documents prepared in advance of an application for development being submitted. They are generally only prepared on large complex sites.
Our Local Plan policies require that before development can happen a Development Brief must first be approved, and that each phase of development should accord with the Brief as it proceeds. A Development Brief does not grant permission to build - this only happens when planning applications are made and permissions have been granted.
The final Brief will build on the proposed policies in the new North Norfolk Local Plan and explain how these will be applied to the site. It will include a summary of the national planning guidance, the Local Plan policies, and identify both the constraints and the opportunities presented by the site. We have done some initial work on this but before going further we want your views, both on the content of the proposed Brief and any specific ideas you may have.
We are proposing that the final Brief will include sections on Transport and Movement, Climate Change and Environment, Homes and Housing, Open Space and Green Infrastructure, Design Quality, Community facilities and Employment, Infrastructure, and an overall Vision and Master Plan. You can find out more by following each of the section links on the Home page.
How will it be prepared?
Preparation of the Development Brief will be a collaborative process between the Council, the landowners, Town Council and other local stakeholders. North Norfolk District Council will be producing the Brief. It will be refined over multiple stages, and be subject to formal public consultation before being adopted by the Council. Once adopted, future planning applications on the site would need to comply with the Brief in order to secure planning permission.