Home | North Walsham Sustainable Urban Extension

North Norfolk District Council is working with local landowners, service providers and community organisations to bring forward a considerable new development to the west of North Walsham.

Where is it?

The 95-hectare site incorporates the area around Bradfield Road, Greens Road, Aylsham Road, Tungate Road and Skeyton Road. It stretches from the railway line to the north west of the town, across arable land to the west of the town, to Norwich Road in the south.

What is being planned?

When fully developed, North Walsham West is expected to provide approximately 1800 new homes, a primary school, significant areas of public open space, and around 7 hectares of employment land. A key element of the project is the early delivery of a link road to distribute traffic between Norwich Road and Cromer Road. A Development Brief will set out the specification as to what development will take place and how the site will be delivered.

Why is it needed?

The development of the site is a key element of the future growth planned for the district through the emerging Local Plan. Development is needed to meet the projected growth in population and the demand for a range of housing types. North Walsham is considered to be one of the most suitable locations for large-scale growth due to its broad range of services, facilities, and transport connections. Additionally, North Walsham does not have the significant environmental and landscape constraints that are found elsewhere in the district.

The development provides an opportunity:

to ease some of the long-term transport issues in the town through the delivery of a link road,
provide significant areas of employment land and public open space,
improve footpath connections, and other environmental enhancements.

Development Brief

The Local Plan, currently at an advanced stage of preparation, provides the policy requirements that will need to be complied with for development consent to be granted on this site. One such requirement is for a Development Brief to be prepared to set out the guiding principles against which future planning applications on the site will be considered. The document will:

provide a vision for the site
detail how the site will be laid out and delivered
provide certainty over the road, school and environmental infrastructure that the Council expects to be delivered
promote high standards of layout and sustainable design
detail the requirements and level of affordable housing, and housing and care provision for older people
support a comprehensive and organised delivery of the site

A separate Health Impact Assessment will consider the healthcare impacts arising from the proposed development.

This is an exciting time for North Walsham West, and we are working with colleagues, partners and local groups to integrate with and inform other initiatives in the town, including the North Walsham Heritage Action Zone and Norfolk County Council Network Improvement Strategy.

The brief will ensure that the site is developed in a coordinated way to provide a high-quality development that meets the community's needs.

How do I get involved?

We want to ensure the new development is planned and delivered comprehensively, which considers local views and expectations. Early engagement with North Walsham Town Council, site owners, agents, developers, service providers, and Norfolk County Council enabled the Council to establish a range of draft aims and key principles for developing the site.

An initial consultation took place between 24 May and 24 June 2021 to present the draft aims and key requirements for public comment. The council widely publicised the consultation, and we received 450 responses. We will provide a summary of the feedback and the council’s response here shortly.

The results of the consultation will inform the preparation of the Development Brief.

Additional opportunities to get involved, will be provided here when available.

Supporting evidence

Western Link Road (WLR) Feasibility Study

A high-level traffic assessment has been prepared to inform the proposed new growth in the emerging Local Plan in North Walsham. This study focuses on the feasibility of delivering a Western Link Road (WLR) around the town, linking Norwich Road, Cromer Road and the industrial estate.

The report concludes that there will be a significant amount of new traffic associated with the sites proposed for allocation in the emerging Local Plan. However, the WLR is expected to alleviate the majority of the traffic impacts that the growth could cause. Additionally, the WLR is expected to solve some of the existing routing issues for HGVs caused by the low bridges in the town. This high-level study suggests that the WLR should provide a northern link along Link Road and Bradfield Road to connect with the industrial estate to deliver the maximum transport benefits for the town.