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Report Back Meeting New development at
Hethersett could take the form of a series of hamlets incorporating green
areas, the report back meeting at Hethersett High School heard. Over 200 people
attended to hear the development group’s initial ideas. A section of the
audience continued to lobby against any new development in the village and
suggestions that the building “should go somewhere else” met with applause
from some areas. John Thompson
highlighted some of the new ideas that would accompany the building of over
1,000 new homes. These included a new medical centre, the re-location of the
village junior school, a new village centre in land off Queen’s Road, a new
football and sports complex at the back of the existing Village Hall, an
improved Park and Ride scheme from Thickthorn, allotments, cycleways and
footpaths, a subsidised bus service and a new care home for the elderly. Mr Thompson said these
were all achievable under the present plan and went as far as to mention a
more specific figure of 1140 homes. He explained that the
preferred option would be to site these in blocks of up to 100 in small
hamlets that would be inter-connected and include open green spaces. A new
road around the village would also be built.
Mr Thompson added that the building process could take up to 10 years
with 100 homes being built each year. Questionnaires filled
in at the planning weekend indicated that many people were still opposed to
development but Mr Thompson pointed out that Hethersett was in the ideal place
for sustainable growth and he felt the additional facilities would
“strengthen and re-invigorate the village.” “We very much prefer
the idea of a series of hamlets rather than a large cluster of housing. The
idea is to provide areas that are all within 10 minutes walking distance of
people’s daily needs,” he said, adding that he thought the kind of
development would be in keeping with the Norfolk character. Work on planning the
development will continue for up to a year and a special Hethersett Village
Forum meeting open to everyone will be held in Hethersett Village Hall at 6.30
p.m on May 13th.
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