The Swaffham Neighbourhood Plan is a community-led document for guiding the future development of the town. It is about the use and development of land over the next 20 years.  If you've not managed to get along to one of our consultation events, please complete the survey below before 20th April.

* 1. Email address

* 2. Are you?

* 3. Age?

* 4. How would you describe yourself?

* 5. What do you think of the draft Vision 2039?

By 2039 Swaffham will be an attractive, well connected and flourishing market town, whilst preserving its distinctive and attractive character.
To meet the growing needs of the town and the rural hinterland, it will have a range of high quality homes, new employment opportunities, essential public services and appropriate infrastructure. Growth of the town will respect the natural environment, heritage, character and green credentials. Swaffham will be a sustainable place where people want to live, work and visit.

Below are a series of ideas that have come from consultation to date.  Please let us know what you think before we start writing the Neighbourhood Plan.
HOUSING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT ideas

* 6. Objective: To provide a sustainable range of housing types for a vibrant mixed community.

* 7. POLICY IDEA: Encourage a wide range of types of of housing to enable a mixed community including:
  • Retirement living housing (e.g. supported housing, bungalows and retirement complexes)
  • Family housing
  • Starter homes, including one-bedroomed properties
  • Adaptable, ‘life time’ homes
  • Affordable housing – is the need in Swaffham higher than the district level (25%)?

* 8. POLICY IDEA: Preference for development to take place to the east of the town (to give a more balanced geographical distribution of housing), not to south and north (which could create ribbon development). New services will be required. Should a corridor of land on the west side of the town be kept available in the longer term for a future relief road, and associated development?

* 9. Objective: To provide high quality and well-designed development and public space that complements the distinctive character and heritage of Swaffham.

* 10. POLICY IDEA: Encourage the use of vacant/redundant buildings, with first preference for community use on the ground floor in the town centre. 
  • Are there any places?

* 11. POLICY IDEA: Encourage opportunities for people to self-build their own home.

* 12. POLICY IDEA: Ensure the protection of locally important areas of green space. The following areas are to be designated as ‘Local Green Spaces’ (for special protection):
• Antinghams
• Recreation ground
• Merryweather
• Manor house grounds
• Railway line for access
• Allotments?
• Any others?

Please note, the following are protected through the Breckland Local Plan: Campingland, Orford Road playing field, Football Club, Cricket Club, Rugby Club, cemeteries and burial ground.

* 13. POLICY IDEA: New developments located at the town entrances (particularly along the Norwich Road), must enhance the approach to the town, for example through the provision of signage, trees, shrubs, flower planting and buildings in character with the town.
• Where?

* 14. POLICY IDEA: Development proposals that respond positively to creating an attractive local townscape and enhance the town’s visual appearance will be supported.

* 15. POLICY IDEA: New housing should be designed to be in keeping, complementing and enhancing the existing character of Swaffham. What does good design look like?
• Details and materials
• Layout
• Height
• Scale
• Energy efficiency features
• Others?

* 16. POLICY IDEA: Ensure that housing density is right for its location. Encouraging a gradual transition of density – higher density in centre of town, becoming less dense on moving out of the town, with soft well-landscaped, boundary edges of development where adjacent to open countryside.

* 17. POLICY IDEA: Ensure that buildings that are locally important in terms of their architectural, historical or cultural significance are protected (non-designated heritage assets). The following non-designated heritage assets should be protected:
• Railway Station site
• Signal box base
• Green Britain Centre
• The Shambles
• Magazine (mid-19th century munitions store)
• Ash Close
• WW2 Pill boxes
• Campingland
• The Antinghams
• The corbel (historical feature on wall at Poundstretcher)
• St Guthlacs Chapel
• Baptist Church cemetery
• Town Pit (Richmond Plain)
• Cottage Hospital
• Cemetery Chapel
• The Crescent, White Cross Road
• Others?

COMMUNITY ideas 

* 18. Objective: To provide inclusive opportunities for cultural, leisure, community, sport and other social activities, for all ages.

* 19. POLICY IDEA: Support for the provision of new indoor sports facilities.
• What else and where?

* 20. POLICY IDEA: Support for a swimming pool.

* 21. POLICY IDEA: Support for new recreation ground and sports facilities, near new housing development.
• What and where?

* 22. POLICY IDEA: Work in partnership with owners of existing community buildings to make improvements for the wider community and delivery of further services.
• Which buildings?

* 23. POLICY IDEA: Preference for larger informal outdoor, recreation and play spaces, rather than small, scattered pocket parks.

* 24. POLICY IDEA: Identify sites as potential redevelopment opportunities
• Existing police station and magistrates court site
• TA centre
• Suggested uses?

* 25. Objective: To ensure sufficient provision of accessible health and social care.

* 26. POLICY IDEA: Support for further Primary Health Care provision
• What?
• Where?

* 27. Objective: To ensure sufficient provision of education, including early
years childcare.

* 28. POLICY IDEA: Planning provision will be supported. applications that seek to address a shortfall in preschool provision will be supported.

* 29. POLICY IDEA: Support expansion of existing schools to allow for increase in school pupil numbers.

ENVIRONMENT ideas

* 30. Objective: To protect the environment and minimise pollution.

* 31. POLICY IDEA: New facilities should be located away from areas of poor air quality.

* 32. POLICY IDEA: Support for long stay and commuter car parking on sites outside of the town centre to alleviate parking problems in the town centre.

* 33. POLICY IDEA: Ensure that future development should not cause new drainage issues or exacerbate existing drainage problems.
• Are there any localised flooding areas?

* 34. POLICY IDEA: Development within the following views that is overly intrusive, unsightly or prominent will not be supported
• Approach to Swaffham from east, Norwich Road – view of the townscape of Swaffham
• From A47 coming from the west, towards the town centre
• Others?

* 35. POLICY IDEA: Encourage business premises and community buildings to be designed to anticipate climate change, built to high environmental standards, include renewable and energy efficient features, whilst being sensitive to the historic environment. New developments should include electric car charging points.

* 36. POLICY IDEA: Minimise the impacts of light pollution from new development on dark skies. Street lighting should be environmentally efficient, sympathetic in design and limited where adjacent to the countryside.

* 37. POLICY IDEA: Support renewable energy developments, including solar options, where they are not detrimental to the rural landscape.

TRANSPORT & ACCESS ideas

* 38. Objective: To improve traffic flow within and around Swaffham.

* 39. POLICY IDEA: Support any measures that would reduce through traffic and pollution in the town centre.

* 40. POLICY IDEA: Any new development or business should not significantly contribute to an increase in traffic volume within the town centre. All new developments must mitigate against any increase in traffic volume and air pollution.

* 41. POLICY IDEA: Support works to enable Theatre Street to become two-way (facilitating access to the cark park from the south), with appropriate signage.

* 42. POLICY IDEA: Alter the traffic flow access within the town centre
• Reverse traffic flow from Cley
Road into market place?
• Buttercross roundabout?
• Other?

* 43. Objective: To ensure safe walking and cycling within the Swaffham town and area.

* 44. POLICY IDEA: New estate developments must create easily accessible and attractive routes for walking and cycling, that link to town services and Peddars Way.

* 45. POLICY IDEA: Support for the creation of new footpaths and cycle ways in and around the town that connect to existing routes.
• Where?

* 46. Objective: To provide sufficient and accessible parking for residents, visitors and businesses.

* 47. POLICY IDEA: Any new developments, buildings or businesses must provide sufficient parking for the intended use, so not to create further obstructions or other parking problems, and ensure safety for pedestrians, whilst minimising the visual impact of the car.

* 48. POLICY IDEA: New public parking outside of the town centre is supported, should the opportunity arise.

BUSINESS & EMPLOYMENT ideas

* 49. Objective: To encourage and support new and existing businesses, to generate employment opportunities.

* 50. POLICY IDEA: Encourage businesses with green credentials.

* 51. POLICY IDEA: Encourage provision of light industry, but not heavy or polluting industry (air and noise).

* 52. POLICY IDEA: Home-based and small businesses supported (incubator units, office facilities, live-work units, training facilities).

* 53. POLICY IDEA: Encourage small shops and services in south of town to service local housing and reduce the need for traffic in town centre.

* 54. Objective: To develop an economically viable and attractive town centre.

* 55. POLICY IDEA: Encourage a mix of defined retail opportunities What do we want to encourage/discourage?

* 56. POLICY IDEA: Support visual enhancements to Market Place and Buttercross.

* 57. Objective: To provide widely available and effective telecommunications and internet access.

* 58. POLICY IDEA: New developments should have fast internet connections.

Thank you for giving us your views.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The Neighbourhood Plan steering group will be drafting the Plan over the next few months, for further consultation during the summer. Watch this space.

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