Category: Consultations

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Pylons in the Yare Valley?

Please help YVS to safeguard the Valley by responding to a consultation on the likely impact of installing pylons, solar panels, and other energy developments in the Yare Valley.

Pylons on Marston Marsh?

The Background

South Norfolk District Council is consulting on a draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which deals with Landscape Susceptibility in relation to Energy Generation, Storage and Transmission as it relates to Local Character Areas* (LCAs) within its boundaries. It has drafted assessments of how susceptible the LCAs are to the development of solar photovoltaic panels, anaerobic digestion (AD) plants, battery storage facilities, overhead powerlines including 400kV lines that utilise the largest pylons (35-50m), underground cable routes, and substations. Among the LCAs assessed is LCA F1: Yare Valley Urban Fringe which is a part of South Norfolk that lies in the Yare Valley on the south side of the Norwich boundary (the river is the boundary).

The Yare Valley Society is concerned that the present draft susceptibility assessment in the consultation does not take fully into account the special circumstances of LCA F1. It is unique amongst the LCAs of South Norfolk, lying as it does in an urban fringe and forming part of the larger Yare Valley Green Infrastructure Corridor.

YVS is pressing for LCA F1 to have a special status and be included in the main body of the report under its own separate section. The YVS case for special status is here.

How you can help

Please read the YVS case, and if you agree, please then email (planning@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk) to give your own personal angle on why F1 should be given special consideration.

The consultation ends on 1st September 2025, but please respond now.

Additional information

The click on the items below for the consultation documents.

Landscape Susceptibility in relation to Energy Generation, Storage and Transmission – SPD

Landscape Susceptibility SPD – Supporting Documents Appendices and Impact Reports.

For a second submission to South Norfolk Council, YVS is preparing a detailed response to Appendix 3 Landscape Susceptibility Analysis of F1 (Pages 76 to 85). You might like to have a look at this and send in your comments to Planning at South Norfolk (email above).

Thank you for caring for the Valley

*Local Character Area status provides a degree of protection from inappropriate development. In the case of the Yare Valley LCA this is reflected in Policy DM 4.5 Landscape Character and River Valleys: “All development should respect, conserve and where possible, enhance the landscape character of its immediate and wider environment. Development proposals that would cause significant adverse impact on the distinctive landscape characteristics of an area will be refused. …”

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Designing a new riverside boardwalk

UEA is moving forward with the support of the Yare Valley Society and other organizations to secure funding for the construction of a new boardwalk to replace the old worn out one.

Funding has now been obtained through the Norwich City Council for the design stage. UEA can now commission the boardwalk design and, if the City Council agrees the full project application is worth putting forward to the Greater Norwich Growth Board Infrastructure Investment Fund, UEA will submit the application in July 2025

Ahead of the design commissioning process, UEA are running two consultation sessions to hear from local organisations, community groups and schools about how the boardwalk could be restored and replaced in a way that makes the facility a more inclusive, welcoming and enjoyable space. The design will be community-informed, and so these consultations are an excellent opportunity to make suggestions and share ideas.

The consultations will take place on 

Friday 9th May 9:30-11:30 [Venue: Roy Snelling Lecture Theatre, Bob Champion Building, NNUH. Free parking available.]

and

Tuesday 13th May 18:00-20:00 [Venue: Willow Centre, Round House Park. Free parking available.]

Yare Valley Society representatives will be at the Tuesday consultation.

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Have your say on our green and blue space

A consultation is now open on Norwich’s first parks and open spaces strategy. It is at Get Talking Norwich where you can read the draft strategy and respond to questions and say what you think about it. You have the opportunity to use an interactive map to comment on areas of particular interest to you. You will see from the map there are a lot of green spaces in the Yare Valley that you can comment on. The river marks the Norwich boundary. Remember that these green spaces tell only part of the story, because much of the green space of the Valley Corridor lies on the other side of the river, outside of Norwich. What may seem like small insignificant disconnected green spaces on the Norwich side of the river, become linked up once the bigger picture is viewed.

The Yare Valley Society has already taken part in workshops on formulating this new Greater Norwich Green Infrastructure Strategy, and will make further comment on the resulting draft. Please support us by responding to ensure the Yare Valley receives the attention a major Green Infrastructure Corridor deserves.

The consultation is open until Thursday 2 January 2024.

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Norwich Western Link: A threat to our neighbouring green corridor?

The Yare River Valley and the Wensum River Valley are the two strategic green infrastructure corridors of Norwich. Proposed developments continue to threaten their effectiveness in providing habitat and free movement for wildlife. One threat is the building of roads across the valleys. An additional road across the Yare Valley has been mooted, but there is no definite plan as yet. A new road across the Wensum is now under consideration to carry the Norwich Western Link.  A planning application (FUL/2024/0022) for the Link has been submitted, and it is out for public consultation until 18th August 2024 (recently extended to this date).

Norfolk Wildlife Trust, CPRE, Friends of the Earth and Buglife are have joined with other environmental organisations to condemn the proposals because of the ecological destruction that can be expected to occur. Natural England has sought assurance from the developers Norfolk County Council that a nationally important habitat for a protected species of bat will not be damaged. Whether Norfolk County Council can give such an assurance seems in doubt, but the Council have, none the less, gone ahead with a planning application for the road.

Grounds for objection are detailed by the “Stop the Wensum Link” campaign.

Concern has also been expressed that the route is designed only for motorised vehicle use (or fearless cyclists) with little or no provision for more sustainable means of travel such as walking and cycling. There is no effective shadow route for non-motorised users.

The issues are complex, but if you wish to speak up for our green wildlife corridors and/or sustainable travel, go to the plans and consultation website.

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McCarthy Stone Bartram’s phase 3 planning application

McCarthy Stone have submitted a planning application for phase 3 of the Bartram’s Mowers development on Bluebell Road. The proposals are for the “demolition of existing buildings, erection of 23 No. bungalows, 74 No. apartments, ancillary communal facilities, landscaping, access and associated works.” This is a slight reduction on the number of bungalows in their previous (withdrawn) application for phase 3. The planning reference is 22/01447/F.

YVS are examining the proposals, and intend to comment; but please send in any concerns you have about this development in a sensitive area of the Yare Valley. Do previous comments you may have made still apply?

A good start point for an overall view is the “Layout Plan – Proposed” in documents dated November 15 2022. Comments should be submitted to Norwich Planning before December 29th. Please check with the Norwich Planning Department if you wish to submit comment after this date.

The Yare Valley Response to this Application is here.

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Norwich City Council Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan Consultation

Norwich City Council are “seeking your feedback and ideas to inform” their Biodiversity Strategy for 2022 to 2032 and their associated Biodiversity Action Plan.

A copy of the Strategy is available at https://gettalking.norwich.gov.uk/biodiversity-strategy The Yare Valley Green Infrastructure Corridor can be expected to play a key role in the strategy, linking as it does five of the eight Norwich local nature reserves. But there is also an opportunity to make suggestions as to how climate change and biodiversity decline can be tackled at a smaller scale. Your ideas can join the Big Biodiversity Conversation at https://gettalking.norwich.gov.uk/big-biodiversity-conversation.

The consultation ends on Wednesday 31st August.

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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?
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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.

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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. 

 

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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.