Extraordinary Meeting of Wereham Parish Council - 6 December 2011

Present: P. Norris - chairman, C. Humphries, Mrs. Newell, D. Deighton, G. Key, Mrs. Koopowitz, Mrs Bruce and 58 members of the public.

Apologies: None

1. Welcome. The Chairman opened the meeting by welcoming every one and thanking them for attending on such a cold evening.

2. Purpose of Meeting. The Chairman then went on to explain with the help of a flip chart why the meeting had been called and what was meant by the POLICY DEVELOPMENTPLAN.

Earlier in the year a document of this name had been circulated to all Villages inWest Norfolkand from this document it was learned that Wereham was categorised as a very small Village in which there would be no new housing developments. It was eventually realised by a Planning Consultant dealing with an application in the Village which was refused, that in fact Wereham had been wrongly categorised and some 6 or 7 houses may possibly be permitted between 2013 and 2026 outside the present ‘building envelope’. This information caused the Borough Council to look again at their document and hence the new documentation in front of this meeting. The main question which is being asked regarding the marked up map is ‘do the Village want all the sites, some of the site or none of the sites’ which have been marked.

The chairman suggested that as the possible sites were numbered and everyone present had a sight of a copy of the map he would go clockwise around the map and invite interested persons to state their views.

3. Discussion

SITE 105 Mrs. Newell declared an interest in this site and took no further part. Objections to this site were - access onto Cavenham Road along which traffic travels very fast, there is no pavement, there are high verges and no way to create space for a pavement, the road is very narrow and therefore totally lethal for young or old to walk along. Other objections were - loss of scenery, loss of wildlife and loss of privacy. The electricity supply during a large part of the year is intermittent, there is no gas supply in the Village and the water pressure is very low. The Village has no amenities except a Church, a Public House and a Village Hall together with a scant ‘bus service. The road surface inCavenham Road is extremely poor and only very recently a large area sank - how long before the drains and water pipes break under any additional traffic. The question was asked if the site had ever been the subject of a planning application and the answer was yes about 20 plus years ago.

SITE 404 Mrs. Newell declared an interest in the site and took no part. The Parishioners had no comments on this site.

S****ITES 950, 111, 541 The objection as expressed is that the access would be onto a single track roadway and this would be totally unacceptable.

SITE 107 It was confirmed by the Owners that no application had ever been submitted on this site. The Owners are extremely annoyed and upset that this area was included on the map without any consultation with them at all - the first they knew was when another Parishioner showed them the map. The public again expressed the view that the access would be onto a 10 foot wide lane and therefore again totally unacceptable.

SITES 362, 106, 813 The Parishioners had no comments to make on this area at all.

SITE 499 It was stated that there is already development being carried out in Flegg Green which is within the Conservation Area and any additional development would be too much. The description regarding this area seems a little misleading referring to R.A.F. Marham - and the chairman, an ex-RA.F. personnel, agreed to endeavour to get a definitive explanation of the wording. It was also questioned how any new development of this site could be accessed if the already approved area was built upon.

SITE 570 No comments were made at all about this site.

SITE 656 The Parishioners and the Parish Council fully support this site together with the Planning application. A pair if semi-detached dwellings would be a great improvement on a disused agricultural building.

It was proposed by D Deighton and seconded by Mrs. Koopowitz that the remainder of the Agenda be adjourned until the next regular Parish Council meeting on the 10th January 2012.

The meeting closed a t8.40p.m.