It is What it Says on the Packet

The proposed development at Rackheath will be a TOWN - this is not some large housing estate that is being planned it is a town approximately the size of Aylsham.

To qualify to be one of the government's proposed eco-towns the number of houses must be at least 5,000. There is also a commitment to provide local jobs for at least one person in each household - that is a lot of new jobs! The developers say: "Future expansion of the existing Rackheath Industrial Estate is seen as a key objective for the development to provide new jobs. This combined with the provision of office space, shops and jobs close to homes will provide a range of employment opportunities within the community".

Broadland District Council proudly announced that an American Eco-masonary business is looking to locate to Rackheath – an production facility for electric cars has also been suggested at a recent meeting hosted by the Council.

The new town will therefore have houses, shops, businesses and factories putting immense pressure on our current infrastructure and changing the surrounding area irrevocably.

Communities and Local Government in setting out their planning policy for eco-towns said “We see the key characteristics of an eco-town being that it must be a new settlement, separate and distinct”. However, the proposed Rackheath eco-town in clearly an extension of an existing village. The Joint Core Strategy goes further and suggests that the major growth area if which Rackheath is a part “will deliver an urban extension extending on both sides of the Northern Distributor Road. Delivery is dependent on the implementation of the Northern Distributor Road”.

The local community hasn't asked for this scale of development for Rackheath. The large number of houses is one issue but the greater vision is something else entirely.

1 comment:

  1. The local population of North esat Norwich have not asked for this amount of development,the local communities will simply be overwhelmed. The occupants of these new houses will NOT be local people,but will be from other areas, so the locals will lose their rural way of life,the country will lose thousands of acres of food producing land and the environment will be ruined forever. Of oourse,the developers and landowners will make a great deal of money and so will BDC from those extra council tax payers,so thats all right then!!

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