Rackheath Eco-Community

Home

Overview

Latest News

18 November 2010: Eastern Daily Press

Eco-town is not reliant on road link
by Matthew Sparkes

The promoters behind a 4,000 home eco-town in Rackheath have said they are prepared to go ahead with their plans whether or not the Norwich northern distributor road (NDR) is built.

The additional homes would place strain on road links to Norwich, but backers of the £127m road have to wait a year to see if it has secured funding after being placed on a list of 21 projects able to bid for a slice of a £600m in government funding.

Phil Hardy, leader of the Green group at Norfolk County Council, previously said that without the road, the eco-town could not go ahead.

But Richard Atkinson, speaking for eco-town backers Building Partnerships, who are working with Barratt Homes, said: "Extensive studies lie behind the proposal. NDR is seen as bringing benefits to the eco-community, but the eco-community is not designed to encourage private vehicle movements. We're not reliant on the NDR. It's linked to the city by two radial routes that both have established public transport services."

The news emerged at the inspection of the joint core strategy at the King's Centre in Norwich yesterday. A three-week inspection of the draft plan for future housebuilding in and around Norwich over the next 16 years has begun to see if it is sound.

The housing plans were drawn up by the Greater Norwich Development Partnership (GNDP), which is made up by Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council, Broadland District Council, South Norfolk Council and the Broads Authority.

It includes 7,000 homes to the north east of Norwich, including the Rackheath eco-town, 3,000 in Norwich, 2,200 in Wymondham and 1,000 in Hethersett.

Richard Williams, technical officer at Stop Norwich Urbanisation (Snub), questioned whether there would be jobs for 20,000 residents and voiced concerns over loss of landscape.

The area, much of it located on a disused airfield, had been described by developers as a "blank canvas" with little bio-diversity.

But Snub argues that the area has a wealth of vital agricultural land. "The idea that we're talking about a brownfield site needs to be put to bed," added Mr Williams. "The airfield at Rackheath was an emergency airfield built by the Americans. It remained as a decommissioning base. Then it was completely returned to agriculture and it's still farmed now."

James Frost, director of CPRE Norfolk, said that he "shared the frustrations" of Snub. "It will change what is principally a rural area into principally an urban area."