Plans to build 1,000 Hethersett homes given the go ahead

Rebecca Gough Thursday, January 31, 2013
11:06 AM

A project to build more than 1,000 new homes in Hethersett has been given the go-ahead, despite opposition.

The scheme will see 1,196 houses, road improvements, shops, busin-esses, a primary school and recreation area built, as well an extension to the Thickthorn park and ride.

It was approved at yesterday’s South Norfolk development management committee meeting. Concerns raised included traffic congestion, a detrimental effect on the character of the village, and an encroachment beyond village boundaries.

Speaking at the meeting, the chairman of Hethersett Parish Council planning committee, Gary Wyatt, said the scheme would increase the village by 50pc.

“We think this will completely overwhelm the village and its facilities and infrastructure,” he said. “This is a village which has won a Pride in Norfolk award as an outstanding community.”

A spokesman for Hethersett Our Way (HOW), formerly Hands off Hethersett, said that its concerns centred on the location and volume of the development, as well as its proximity to electricity pylons.

A condition was imposed that there would be no residential development to the east of Burnthouse Lane until the strategic gap was agreed.

The scheme will be built in five phases, beginning in the middle and moving east towards the second phase and then west.

It is expected to take between 10 and 12 years to complete.