8. Costessey Contingency Site

Policy GNLP0581/2043: Land off Bawburgh Lane, north of New Road and east of the A47, Costessey

8.1

This is a contingency site which is well-related to the existing edge of the Norwich urban area neighbouring the built-up areas of Bowthorpe and Costessey with no major constraints. If the trigger point set out in the second paragraph of the policy applies, the site will need to be masterplanned to provide community and recreation facilities including a local centre, a primary school and a sixth form centre. Highway improvements will be needed including improvements to the Longwater junction and New Road to ensure adequate access from the A47 and the remainder of the urban area.

CONTINGENCY SITE

Policy GNLP0581/2043

Land off Bawburgh Lane, north of New Road, east of the A47 (approx. 62.42ha) is identified as a contingency site for an urban extension including housing, open and play space, a local centre and education facilities.  This could accommodate in the region of 800 homes.

The site will become an allocation if there are three consecutive years in which Annual Monitoring Reports show that housing completions in Greater Norwich are more than 15% below annual targets in each year and where under-delivery is the result of site specific constraints (for example there are infrastructure or ownership constraints or significant abnormal costs have been identified) preventing the delivery of committed and allocated housing sites.

More homes may be accommodated on the site, subject to an acceptable design and layout, as well as infrastructure constraints.

The development will address the following specific matters:

  1. Approximately 4 hectares of the site should be safeguarded for education to provide a new primary school and a sixth form college in agreement with the education authority;
  2. Provision of a new local centre on site (approx. 0.3ha) to include a convenience foodstore and three smaller units with parking provision.
  3. Provision of adequate landscaping and green infrastructure.
  4. Provision of a sustainable drainage system (SUDs);
  5. Mitigation to address utilities infrastructure crossing the site;
  6. Provision for off-site improvements to the highway network to address the impact of the development on the Longwater Junction and on New Road to ensure that the site can be adequately accessed from the A47 and A1074 and the A47 and B1108;
  7. Norfolk Minerals and Waste Core Strategy Policy CS16 applies as this site is underlain by safeguarded mineral resources;
  8. Preparation of a masterplan to guide the development, submitted as part of the application for planning permission.

The masterplan and other documentation required through this plan should:

  1. Provide for vehicular access from Barnard Road and New Road and public transport to and through the site;
  2. Include pedestrian and cycle access across the site and to neighbouring residential and retail areas and other services and facilities in Bowthorpe and Costessey (Longwater) and to the open countryside to promote active travel. This should include safeguarding of land for a pedestrian footbridge over the A47;
  3. Provide a significant landscape buffer adjacent to the A47 and adequate noise mitigation measures to protect amenity and detail the location of other green infrastructure to provide links across the site and to the wider green infrastructure network;
  4. Set out the distribution of land-uses across the site. The education facilities and local centre should be centrally located on the site;
  5. Detail the phasing of development of the site;
  6. Include pollution control techniques to ensure that development does not lead to pollution of the water environment as the site falls within source protection zone 3.
  7. Include an Arboricultural Impact Assessment (AIA) to protect or to mitigate any harm to trees on site;
  8. Include an ecological assessment to identify key ecological networks and habitats to be preserved and enhanced through the development.
  9. Mitigate surface water flooding, particularly in the east of the site;
  10. Comply with the requirements of Norfolk Minerals and Waste Core Strategy Policy CS16 - 'safeguarding' (or any successor policy) in relation to mineral resources, to the satisfaction of the mineral planning authority as the site is partially underlain by a defined mineral safeguarding area for sand and gravel.
  11. Clarify the approach to infrastructure delivery on and off site.

Policy Map

GNLP0581/2043 Policy Map