McCarthy Stone  (Bluebell Road) Phase 3 Online Consultation

McCarthy Stone are carrying out a pre-planning application consultation for Phase 3 of their development on Bluebell Road. Unfortunately, the window for a response is very short, being barely a week, ending on Saturday 19th February.

The consultation is here.

Pre-application consultations are a valuable opportunity to influence the detail of an application prior to its submission. Once an application has been submitted for approval its details are more difficult to change.

Phase 1 of the development was for more than 60 residences which have already been occupied. Phase 2 of more than 40 residences already has planning approval, but has not yet been started. Phase 3 will be for over 100 residences in apartments and bungalows,  and should complete the development of the site. The Strawberry field has already been released as public green space, and more public green space will be released to the west of the residences as the development progresses. Marshland adjacent to the river will also be protected.

Please make a response to the application if you feel able. Some things you might think about with respect to the Valley are:

  • Protection of views from the Yare Valley including the Strawberry Field and other released green space. Some buildings are three storey.
  • Views from Bluebell Road through the development towards the valley.
  • Access to green space from the development and through the development from the Bluebell Road.
  • Layout and character of footpaths in green space.
  • How green space areas should be managed in the future.
  • Permeability of the development to wildlife
  • Is this density of housing and level of parking spaces appropriate for a development adjacent to the Yare Valley Green Infrastructure corridor?

Have a say on the Lasdun Wall

UEA are preparing a planning application for proposals to refurbish and extend part of the Lasdun Wall. The extension is in the vicinity of the Chancellors Lodge near where Chancellors Drive joins University Drive.

North west side of Lasdun Wall

The extension will be on the north west side of the wall, increasing the width of the wall.

A public pre-planning consultation will be held in the Foyer of the Enterprise Centre at the UEA on Wednesday 2nd February 3–7pm. The proposals are not expected to have a significant impact on the Valley green space, but the YVS committee will scrutinise them carefully.

The Enterprise Centre is the “straw” building on University Drive, opposite the Sportspark car park. 

If you are unable be there in person, the proposals, and an opportunity to comment, will be at www.uea-lasdunwall-phase1.co.uk from 2nd to the 18th  February.

Hearings on the Greater Norwich Local Plan (GNLP)

The National Planning Inspectors examining the Local Plan will be holding hearings on “Matters Issues and Questions” in two parts. Part One is from 1st to the 10th of February, and Part Two begins on Tuesday 2nd March 9.30 am. It is Part Two that will be looking at “Matters Issues and Concerns” relating to Valley green space. These are contained in Matter 14 “Other site allocations and site-specific policies”, Issues 1 and 2:

Issue 1 University related allocations: c. Land between Suffolk Walk and Bluebell Road (Ref GNLP0133DR) and d. Land at the UEA Grounds Depot Site, Bluebell Road (Ref GNLP0133E).

The YVS has made detailed representations to the inspectors under Regulation 19 on these two sites.

Issue 2 Open space / leisure applications: a. Bawburgh and Colney Lakes (Ref BAW2).

YVS supports the inclusion of the lakes as a Country Park in the GNLP.

More information of the progress of the GNLP on the GNLP website

 

New Masterplan for East Norwich emerging

The Yare Valley Society is keeping a watching brief on the new Masterplan emerging for East Norwich and has engaged in a Zoom consultation with other stakeholders.

The Masterplan will embrace four sites:

  1. Carrow Works – the former Colman’s factory site
  2. Deal Ground – large site east of the railway
  3. May Gurney – former HQ site for local firm
  4. Utilities sites – former power station site

The Masterplan will impact on the Yare Valley, and the Society’s objectives in relation to the Masterplan are:

  • To safeguard the green infrastructure corridor of the Yare Valley.
  • To promote biodiversity in the Valley
  • To promote walking and cycling routes along the valley to Whitlingham Country Park and to link them with the River Wensum walking and cycling routes.

Information on the developing Masterplan can be found here.

“Planning for the Future” paused – but threat remains

In December of last year YVS thanked members who had responded to what was a difficult government consultation document on proposals for reforms to the local planning system contained in the White Paper “Planning for the Future”. YVS and its members joined many environmental groups in expressing concerns about the adverse impact many of the reforms would have on green space and biodiversity.

It was with considerable relief among environmental groups that following a government reshuffle, which saw Michael Gove become the new housing secretary, it was announced the proposed reforms were being paused.

The CPRE (Council for the Protection of Rural England) sees this as a campaign win, but paused is not the same as stopped. We must remain alert to any possible relaunch.

Yare Valley Society declares GNLP unsound

The Yare Valley Society is objecting to the GNLP on the grounds of the Plan being unsound in respect of two of its policies:

Policy GNLP0133DR: Land between Suffolk Walk and Bluebell Road

Policy GNLP0133-E: Land at the UEA Grounds Depot Site, Bluebell Road University of East Anglia.

See Consultations page for more details.

Sainsbury Centre proposes new addition to Sculpture Park

Anthony Caro’s “Goodwood Steps” has been offered to the Sainsbury Centre on a three-year loan from the Anthony Caro studio.  The Sculpture is a large steel structure 33 metre long and 6.5 metre high. April 2021 is the projected installation date.

The intended site for the sculpture is on the open grass parkland beside the University Broad and facing the Ziggurats between Norfolk and Suffolk Terrace. “The placement of this work in proximity to the Lasdun buildings has been specifically selected to resonate and form a powerful echo or reflection of the Ziggurat architecture.”

The Planning Application for the Sculpture can be viewed on the Norwich Planning Website and searching under reference 21/00124/F. Any comments you have should be with Norwich Planning Department by 26th February 2021.

The Yare Valley Society has concerns about the intrusion of this large structure into the open green grassland space so close to the Broad.  YVS will ask for it to be positioned further away from the Broad and closer to the ziggurats.

 

Next Phase of Local Plan Consultations

The Greater Norwich Local Plan will go forward for a six week Regulation 19 publication period, which will start at 09.00 on Monday 1 February 2021 and close at 17.00 on Monday 15 March 2021.  No representations will be accepted outside of this period. See Consultations.

Colney Burial site gets planning go ahead

At a Zoom meeting today, the South Norfolk District Council Development Committee approved plans for the extension of the Colney Burial site. The extension borders on the River Yare and the Bowthorpe fishing lakes. It takes the form of a narrow strip close to the river connecting to a larger area to the east of the existing site

At the meeting Colney Parish and the Yare Valley Society expressed concerns before approval was given.

The Yare Valley Society pushed for the Development to safeguard, and where possible enhance, the landscape character of the valley, and for there to be no risk of pollution to the river from the burial site. Colney Parish drew particular attention to the regularity of flooding of some of the site from the river, and the increased pollution that could result.

Flooding near existing burial ground

By a vote of 4 to 1 approval was given subject to a number of conditions that went part way to addressing concerns.

Protection of the landscape and ecology will be addressed by a Landscape and Woodland Management Plan. This will include a commitment to increase the proportion of native trees and to safeguard local wildlife. The protection of a heronry will be included in the plan.

The pollution issue is complex. The Tier Two Groundwater Risk Assessment Survey for the site concluded the site to be high risk with the close proximity of the River Yare contributing significantly to the overall risk.

The Environmental Agency, as recently as November 2019, reported the Yare had unacceptable levels of chemical pollution, and that targets for improvement are likely to be missed. YVS argued that now is not the time to be accepting further pollution of our rivers by new developments. Adding more pollution to the river would not bring the pollution problem under control and would result in further damage to our river ecosystems. Flooding would add a further unknown in assessing the likelihood of river pollution.

The approval was given subject to groundwater monitoring of the site, and a flood evacuation plan being in place.

The YVS continues to be concerned about possible contamination of the river and the effectiveness of monitoring. On the positive side, an effective implementation of a Landscape and Woodland Plan should safeguard the visual attractiveness and the ecology of this part of the Valley for the foreseeable future.

Please note that an Eastern Daily Press article on the decision entitled “The hearses will have to go on boats” should have given the correct names of the representatives of Colney Parish and the Yare Valley Society as Bee Korn and John Elbro  respectively.