With Thorpe End recently being awarded conservation status and Salhouse already approved as a conservation area some time ago, one has to question the logic of Broadland District Council and Norfolk County Council in pressing on with plans to ruin the areas forever.
If the controversial Northern Distributor Road goes ahead, it will cross the Plumstead Road at a predicted height of 20 metres and less than 500 metres from Thorpe End Garden Village, in full view of the much praised village green, creating a blot on the landscape for all to see. Thorpe End Garden Village was awarded conservation status on 16th March 2010, as the council recognised the importance of preserving the charm and rural feel the village exudes. It was designed in the 1930's by Percy and Leonard Howes, in keeping with the garden village concept first seen in Letchworth and Hampstead originally created by Ebenezer Howard.
The proposed new town of 5,000 houses in Rackheath, which the council prefer to promote falsely as an "eco town" will also be right on the doorstep of Salhouse, a truly charming and beautiful village on the edge of the Broads.
How is this possible? Tight restrictions exist for all residents preventing them from altering their properties in case this detracts from the existing charm and feel of the villages. Permission is needed to prune healthy trees or cut them down if they are diseased but 20 metre flyovers, industrial eyesores and Barratt style housing developments seem to be ok!
Residents in Thorpe End have also raised concerns that there is nothing to stop Norfolk County Council widening the Plumstead Road and chopping down the huge trees along it's route, as the highways are not actually protected by the conservation status! So far clarification has not been forthcoming from the council. Perhaps a freedom of information request is called for?
No comments:
Post a Comment