This post is the latest addition to the Frequently Asked Questions for North Sprowston and Old Catton (NS&OC). The full FAQs document can be found here (PDF).
Beyond Green claim to have consulted extensively, but these proposals have come as a surprise to some local people, why is that?
During the three years of work leading up to our planning application Beyond Green consulted widely on NS&OC with local residents, local authority members and officers, Parish and Town Councils, voluntary organisations, and statutory bodies such as the Environment Agency. We undertook several phases of community involvement, each with events aimed specifically at local residents:
- Community planning: a series of public events over summer 2011 including exhibitions at Sprowston Fete (Saturday 18th June), Spixworth Fete (Sunday 10th July) and Old Catton Flower Show (Saturday 16th July);
- Design review: public exhibitions over the weekend of 8th and 9th October 2011, held at the former Sprowston Parish Council offices on Recreation Ground Road; and
- Presentation of the outline planning application: public exhibitions at the Sprowston Diamond Centre over the weekend of 6th and 7th October 2012.
Each of these events was promoted through the distribution of 15,000 leaflets to homes in Sprowston, Old Catton and Spixworth, adverts in the Eastern Daily Press and the Norwich Evening News, press coverage in those papers and online, and through information on Beyond Green’s and Broadland District Council’s websites. Further details can be found in the Statement of Community Involvement submitted with the planning application, which also summarises the issues raised during consultation and our responses to them.
Our efforts to consult and engage were in addition to earlier consultation by Broadland District Council and the Greater Norwich Development Partnership while they were developing the Joint Core Strategy, which set out plans for development in the Broadland ‘growth triangle’ to which our specific proposals in part respond. We also took part in Sprowston Town Council’s Neighbourhood Planning workshop in January 2012 where our proposals were discussed in public meetings and stakeholder workshops.
No advertisement process can guarantee that news of events will reach all interested parties, even in areas with such strong community links among residents as Sprowston and Old Catton, but it is nonetheless regrettable if any local resident with an interest in the proposals for NS&OC, particularly residents living close to the site, was not made aware of any, never mind all, of these opportunities to influence the project.
Beyond Green’s approach to consultation has gone far beyond that required by planning regulations and that typically undertaken by house-builders and developers in the UK; however, such consultation is intended to be a complement to, not a substitute for, the rigorous and formal consultation undertaken on any planning application by the local authority. That remains open and the views of local people will carry weight whether or not they have participated in Beyond Green’s earlier processes. Details of how to comment on the NS&OC application are available here (Application No. 20121516)
If successful in securing planning permission we intend to re-double our efforts to engage and involve local residents and others in the detailed design and ongoing delivery of NS&OC. Anyone who would like to be kept informed of future consultations and receive occasional updates on NS&OC should email nsoc@beyondgreen.co.uk to be added to our mailing list.
