Rocklands, Norfolk The Villages of Rockland All Saints and Rockland St Peter

ROCKLANDS PARISH COUNCIL

PRESENT:

P. Cotes (Chairman)
P. Smith (Vice Chairman)
R. Steel
J. Abel
Mrs N. Southgate

90 Parishioners (Estimated)

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

There were no apologies

2. The Chairman opened the meeting and thanked all present for attending.

The Chairman called on Mr David Cutting of David A Cutting, Building Surveyors Ltd, to give an outline of the planning application for 50 The Street.
Mr Cutting then explained the application.

The Chairman opened the meeting to the floor and a number of parishioners addressed questions to Mr Cutting and spoke of their objections to the plan. Matters raised were fears of increased flooding, increased congestion and parking problems raised by the new development. Fire Brigade access, storage of wheelie bins, fuel storage for the boilers in the new development, security of the Post office, safety of school children walking to the playing field and village hall due to additional parking. The Post Office Store raised the problems that the new development would incur through noise of early morning deliveries and the fear that this could cause problems between them and the new occupants.

The Chairman thanked the meeting for their input and attendance

The Chairman then closed the meting to the public and the Councillors then debated their response to the application which is attached at "A"

The meeting closed at 9.45pm.

"A"

Response of Rocklands Parish Council
to Planning Application 3PL/2007/0275/F

The application has provoked strong reaction in the village and at the Parish Council Meeting discussing it, a large attendance was entirely opposed to this development.

We base our objection on the following factors:
1.Drainage. Due to the clay subsoil, the soakaways will be insufficient to deal with heavy rainfall and will exacerbate the already reported problem of flooding in The Street. (There is already an existing legal issue between a resident and Breckland District Council)
2.Density. The density of housing is relatively high and out-of-character with the rest of the village. The proposed bungalow (7) is backfilling and its approval would set a precedent for other sites/applications in the village.
3.Parking. We are very concerned that residents and visitors to the new properties will park on The Street (despite the provision of parking bays at the far end of the site) thereby exacerbating an already busy area of The Street next to the shop/Post Office. This part of The Street is regularly used by pupils walking from the Primary School to the Village Hall and Playing Field as there are no facilities at the School. The increased parking will reduce visibility and pose an additional danger to the children.
4.Access. Exit from the site will be more hazardous due to the increased parking and traffic movements. As The Street is narrow residents of the East side of The Street will also experience difficulties accessing their properties.
5.Building Line. The proposed starter homes are about 4.5 metres in front of the existing building line.
6.Plans. There is some concern about the accuracy of the plans in regard to the boundaries.