05/10/22: Review of potential Breckland housing sites gets underway

Breckland Council has begun looking at sites across the district which could potentially be used to build new homes, create business zones, or become designated community open spaces over the coming 20 years. Following an assessment by the council and comments from residents, a final list of sites will eventually be used as part of Breckland Council's revised Local Plan, which is effectively the blueprint for the district's growth through to 2046. The period for sites to be submitted for consideration has been extended to 1^st December 2022 to ensure the maximum number of sites possible are considered.

Earlier this year, the council invited landowners across the district to put forward any sites that they thought might be suitable for development, prompting hundreds of responses from local landowners. These range from small sites which could potentially accommodate just a handful of new properties, through to areas of land which would have enough space for thousands of new homes. Land for economic development and local green spaces has also been put forward, with sites spread throughout the district.

The council's planning staff are now reviewing each of these sites to assess whether they might be suitable for consideration in the future. Once that's complete, members of the public will be invited to have their say in a public consultation, which is currently planned to launch in early 2023.

Breckland Council is also launching a new app called 'Commonplace' to help with community engagement and promotion of key issues relating to the Local Plan.  Commonplace, which can be viewed at https://brecklandlocalplan.commonplace.is/ has been used successfully by several local authorities in their Local Plan processes and is designed to grow the reach and engagement with the public. Anyone is able to sign up to our Commonplace, which will enable residents to receive updates, view documents and share information with the planning team.

The full list of sites which have been put forward to the council has been published on the Commonplace website, though it is likely a number of these may be ruled out as part of the council's  initial suitability assessments and not make it through to the public engagement round (see notes for editors).

Cllr Sarah Suggitt, Breckland Council's Executive Member for Strategic & Operational Planning, commented: "I'd like to thank all the local landowners who put forward their sites for consideration. We're now working through those suggestions  and we will then invite residents and groups to have their say on the sites so we can take into account local opinion and knowledge.

"We all know that more houses will be needed in the future, along with sites for new jobs and areas for leisure, such as parkland. However, there are some areas that will be more suitable than others and so the final list of sites included in the council's future plans will be used to tell developers where the council and local people would like to see future growth going forward."