Publication

Because the risks to Aylsham and to our parish have not been adequately consulted on or assessed in sufficient detail, we would like to see the extra proposed housing allocation at site GNLP0596R removed from the plan.

1. An additional 300 houses have been inserted into the plan for Aylsham at the GNLP Regulation 19 stage on which we were not consulted. This will potentially alter the market town character of Aylsham and put added pressure on services and infrastructure, especially the sewerage plant which pumps treated material into the Bure just upstream of our parish. There is evidence that the treatment plant has insufficient capacity for the 550 additional families now expected. We argue the plan is not legally compliant nor sound as there was no consultation or opportunity to influence the decision allocating the extra housing.
2. The parish of Burgh and Tuttington lies immediately to the east of Aylsham. The conservation village of Burgh-next-Aylsham is on the River Bure just downstream of the Aylsham sewerage works where treated material is pumped into the river.
3. The Parish Council have previously supported the controlled and phased growth of Aylsham. But the significant increase in housing allocation that was not consulted upon at the Regulation 18 stage not only indicates that the consultation process itself falls short of that required, but it also fundamentally puts at risk Aylsham and its surrounding parishes.
4. We previously cautioned upon the consequences of excessive expansion on the character of the town and increased pressure on the sewage treatment works affecting the River Bure, one of Norfolk's premier river systems.
5. We support the views of Aylsham Town Council and their challenge to the GNLP process and the changed consequences the extra housing allocation brings.
6. Residents of dependent parishes such as ours are also reliant upon the town's services and infrastructure in much the same way as the residents of Aylsham. Inadequate car-parking in Aylsham for example would be a particular problem for residents of surrounding parishes where there are few bus services.
7. We acknowledge the need for additional housing across the three district authorities covered by the GNLP but emphasise the need for a coherent and phased planning strategy especially in and around historic market towns of character such as Aylsham.
8. Without full compliance and consultation about new developments with local residents, town and parish councils, there is a risk that settlements such as Aylsham which act as a focal point for the essential Norfolk tourist industry, lose their character and become dormitory towns to Norwich.
9. Release of untreated sewage into the River Bure is a matter of special concern in our parish and the conservation village of Burgh-next-Aylsham in particular, which lies on the Bure.
10. A House of Commons report in December 2020 (Briefing Paper Number 8820 - see attached file) detailed the frequency of raw sewage discharges across the country. In our region, it was stated that Anglian Water were responsible for over 10,000 raw sewage discharges in 2019 with a flow duration of 133,000 hours.
11. In Aylsham itself, there is evidence that the sewage treatment works currently has insufficient spare capacity to deal with the increase in housing proposed in the Regulation 19 plan. A report prepared by Create Consulting Engineers Ltd (CCE) in 2018 commissioned by Westmere Homes Ltd (see attached file), concluded that the existing capacity at the Aylsham works is sufficient to treat sewage for only 100 additional houses. This falls well short of that required to serve the proposed expansion to 550 houses.
12. We have not been able to comment on any detailed proposal by the GNLP for working in conjunction with Anglian Water to upgrade the Aylsham sewage treatment work to cope with the expected increase in waste water.
13. Without a properly co-ordinated and phased programme to upgrade the Aylsham sewerage plant, there will be an increased risk of raw sewage discharges into the River Bure upstream of Burgh-next-Aylsham.
14. Such discharges will have a deleterious impact on the river environment and ecosystem, on local agriculture, the character of Burgh as a conservation village, and will risk harm to other communities further downstream.
15. The soundness of the Regulation 19 proposal is in question because it does not give adequate details or provide a strategy of phased development to deal with these issues, or give residents the means to consult on the changes.