Your views: housing allocation in coastal villages, and new design guide

6 June, 2008

People in five of North Norfolk's biggest coastal villages are being asked for their views on possible sites for future housing in a six-week consultation starting Monday [9 June, 2008] and running until 12 noon on Monday, 21 July, 2008.

The consultation will ask the villagers of Bacton, Happisburgh, Mundesley, Overstrand and Weybourne - and anyone else who would like to comment - where they would like new housing to be allocated in their communities, through the new North Norfolk Local Development Framework (LDF) - the process of setting planning policies that will guide development in the District for the next 15 years. North Norfolk District Council, which is preparing the LDF, is currently at the stage where it is drawing together Site Specific Proposals (the detailed allocation of land for specific future purposes in each parish).

In a series of public exhibitions in the five coastal villages residents and other interested parties can see all the possible housing sites being considered, along with the Council's preferred sites, and make their comments about what is proposed. There will also be a public exhibition for the whole of the six-week consultation period at the Council's Holt Road head office in Cromer. The full documentation, and a process for replying to the consultation, is also available online at: http://northnorfolk-consult.limehouse.co.uk/portal

The public exhibitions will be held as follows:

• Tuesday, 10 June - Mundesley, Coronation Hall 3-7pm
• Wednesday, 11 June - Happisburgh, Wenn Evens Centre 3-7pm
• Tuesday, 17 June - Overstrand, Parish Hall 3-7pm
• Wednesday, 18 June - Weybourne, Village Hall 3-7pm
• Thursday, 19 June - Bacton, Village Hall 3-7pm
• Mondays - Fridays, 9 June - 21 July - Cromer, NNDC, Holt Road 9.30am - 4pm
  

Design Guide consultation

NNDC is also consulting the public, during the same period (9 June to 21 July), on its proposed Design Guide - which gives advice on new building and alterations, and which aims to maintain a high quality of design and sustainability in the District's built environment.

The Site Specific Proposals and Design Guide spell out how planners should implement the policies in the North Norfolk Core Strategy. The Core Strategy contains policies that will apply across the whole District, saying what kind of development is acceptable, and where.

NNDC's Core Strategy has been subject to extensive public consultation over the last two years, and has recently been scrutinised by a Planning Inspector to determine whether it is sound and can be formally adopted. The Inspector's judgement is expected later this month.

Taking part in the consultations

People's comments on the Site Specific Proposals in these five villages will be incorporated into a draft plan that will be subject to more public consultation in the spring of 2009. (This draft plan will also incorporate proposals for new development in other main towns and villages North Norfolk, following on from previous work and consultation.)

NNDC will consider all comments received on the documents, and will publish summaries of consultees' main issues, along with explanations of how they have been addressed.

All consultation documents and comments forms will be available from each of the village exhibitions, the Council's offices at Cromer or Fakenham, and the Council's LDF website (where documents can be downloaded and viewed and comments can also be submitted on-line): www.northnorfolk.org/ldf. Documents can also be viewed in North Norfolk libraries. If you prefer, documents can be sent to you. CD ROMs are posted free of charge. Please call 01263 516318 for information about postage costs for other documents, or email planningpolicy@north-norfolk.gov.uk

ENDS