Adopted Site Specific Policies and Proposals Development Plan ...

Adopted Site Specific Policies and Proposals Development Plan Document2.4 Harling2.88 Harling has been identified as one of four larger villages in the District which will accommodate modestestate scale growth. The Core Strategy states that Harling will receive an allocation of 50 new homes. TheCore Strategy requires that sites are well integrated with the established built up area of the village in order tominimise the impact on the countryside. This figure has since been achieved by decisions of the Local PlanningAuthority to approve Planning Applications for residential development in Harling in advance of this Site Specificsdocument. A total of 65 homes have been approved in Harling since early 2009. This has been achieved inpart through the grant of permission on the preferred site for residential development at Kenninghall Road for40 dwellings in 2010.However, prior to this decision the Local Planning Authority had granted planning permissionson two separate but adjoining schemes (10 and 15 dwellings) at Lopham Road on a site identified at the PreferredOptions stage as a reasonable alternative site. All of these proposals were outside the existing settlementboundary and approved under provisions in PPS3 'Housing' which required the favourable consideration ofresidential proposals in the absence of a five year land supply. As a consequence there is no need to allocateland through this Development Plan Document to meet the requirements of the Core Strategy for Harling.2.89 Given that development has formally commenced at the Lopham Road site for 10 dwellings the settlementboundary has been amended to include this site. The adjoining site for 15 dwellings is excluded from thesettlement boundary as the site was permitted at a time of acute shortage of housing land which will be addressedby the progression of this Site Specifics document and by the decision to permit 40 dwellings on the Council'spreferred site at Kenninghall Road. Accordingly the settlement boundary will also be amended to include theplanning permission at Kenninghall Road. These amendments are shown on the accompanying Proposals Map.Further reviews of this document will reflect any further changes at Lopham Road should the site for 15 dwellingsbe implemented. However, the site for 15 dwellings occupies a peripheral location, distant from services andfacilities. Amending the settlement boundary to include this site will limit the Local Planning Authority's abilityto reconsider the site against any improvements to the housing land supply position in Breckland.2.90 During the preparation of the Core Strategy it became established that there are no known capacity issuesrelating to the services and infrastructure in Harling for the allocated growth. Through the recent planningpermissions it is evident that the scale of growth in Harling can be accommodated within existing water andelectricity infrastructure and school and doctor capacity. Local balance between homes and jobs will be securedthrough the continued provision of services in the village and the retention of the nearby Roudham IndustrialEstate as a protected General Employment Area. In addition to these core services, the village also contains asport and social club and a village hall. Furthermore, limited growth in Harling is considered acceptable becauseof the access from the B1111 to the A11 and the commuter rail service from Harling Road station to Norwich.The local bus service includes a route to Norwich with one return service a day.2.91 There are no known water and utilities capacity issues in Harling. With regard to flood risk, the RiverThet flows to the west of the village and there are areas of Flood Zone 3a to the south and west of Harling.2.92 The Council's Landscape Character Assessment indentifies East Harling Fen to the north of the villageas having a high landscape character area sensitivity, the middle Harling open Valley Floor as having amoderate/high landscape character area sensitivity and the East Harling heathlands that immediately surroundmost of the village and extend to the east as having a moderate landscape character area sensitivity. Areas ofhigh biodiversity importance lie to the north of the village (East Harling Common SSSI) and to the south (MiddleHarling Fen SSSI).37