Building enough houses to make sure everyone in our area has the chance for a roof of their own, while also making sure we protect and enhance our rural landscape and way of community life is often a difficult balance.

That’s why I’ve long been a strong advocate of Localism and the importance of giving local communities and councils a greater say in how they grow and develop in the years to come – and why, throughout my time as local MP, I’ve supported many Mid Norfolk towns and villages as they go about developing their own Neighbourhood Plans.

Over the years, I have actively supported and encouraged Watton Town Council and the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group as they have set about developing their own Neighbourhood Plan (meeting with members and attending the first public events way back in 2017 as I helped get the efforts underway – see here).

I am therefore delighted that the final draft Plan (the product of countless hours of hard work by the Steering Group, as well as considerable consultation feedback from local residents, businesses and other key community stakeholders) is now going to Referendum on Thursday 18th January 2024.

If YOU are based in Watton, please do take the time to have your say. The Referendum is a key part of the Neighbourhood Plan process and it’s vital local residents take the time to go along, vote and ensure their views are heard.

The Plan can be viewed in full on the Breckland website here (and below by clicking on the image).

An Open Day is also being held at the Charlotte Harvey Trust on Saturday 13th January 2024 between 11am-4pm so that the community can meet with the Steering Group and ask questions.

I very much look forward to hearing the Referendum’s outcome. In the meantime, to stay up to date with all of my work on ‘Planning and Protecting Our Rural Landscapes and Heritage’, please visit my website here.

 

The repeated floodings and delays on the A47 have to stop.

It’s the key arterial route on which all of us depend.  These constant floods and delays hit local businesses, villages and all of us who rely on this key road.

Following my extensive discussions with National Highways previously, they have taken urgent action to improve drainage (see my past updates below). But it is clearly not enough.

That is why I am picking this up with them again today as a matter of urgency to make sure they sort out proper flood prevention.

We must also get on with the dualling works as quickly as possible. People have waited over a decade since I got the then Prime Minister to commit to fund the dualling (see here).  We now need to get it done with proper drainage infrastructure as part of the county-wide flood prevention works that NCC are leading through their Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance – itself based on the recommendations of the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership I established here in our area (see here).

Rest assured, I will keep on this.

To see the recent EDP article on this latest flooding, please click here.

UPDATE - 24 November 2023

Further to my previous update last week (see here – and below), I have now received an additional briefing from National Highways with regards to the flooding issues on the A47 at Honingham – which have affected many of my Mid Norfolk constituents.

While heavy, unprecedented rainfall has taken place over recent weeks, the Regional Director for National Highways and his team have again assured me that preventing the repeated flooding issues remains a high priority.

Having replaced a damaged surface water drainage pipe following Storms Babet and Ciaran, additional works were then undertaken to clear some nearby trees and a portion of garden wall that were found to be impeding water flow, and causing root damage to the previous pipe. With additional rainfall forecast last weekend, they also had crews standing by to pump any excess water away should there be a build up.

As we saw, unfortunately, those crews were required and National Highways have therefore been taking further action – working with nearby landowners to ensure their land is sufficiently worked (ploughed) post-harvest to minimise surface water-run off and reduce the chance of silt build up in the drainage pipes. Silt walls have also been installed to further mitigate silt build up in drainage pipes – with those pipes also being regularly monitored and cleared by NH crews.

Nevertheless, NH continue to follow the weather forecast and have crews monitoring the location closely. They are equipped with pumps should additional flooding occur. NH are prepared to undertake further works if required.

Rest assured, I will keep on this issue – and am due to speak with the NH Regional Director again on Monday. (To stay up to date with all my work on this issue, and my wider flooding campaign, please visit my campaign page here)

This issue highlights again the importance of dualling this section of the A47 – which improve the flow of traffic during heavy rainfall and enable a much larger and more effective drainage system to be introduced at this location (and others). To see my recent EDP article on why this A47 dualling is so vital, please click here and visit my campaign page here 

UPDATE - 21 November 2023

Having raised the recent, repeated flooding issues on the A47 with National Highways and made clear that they need to urgently grip and address them (see my previous webstories here and here), I share the frustration of many of my constituents after further flooding occurred between Honingham and Easton again last week.

That’s why I am raising the matter with the Regional Director for National Highways again.

Commuters and local communities should not have to face this constant disruption. The A47 is a key transport artery and it’s vital that it isn’t closed due to flooding – or subject to severe delays.

It’s clear that recent works to repair a damaged pipe that should have taken surface water to the nearby River Tud were insufficient. NH must move quickly to implement further solutions.

Rest assured, I will keep on this – and hope to provide a further update soon.

To find out more about my wider flooding campaign work, please visit my website here.

To see more on my work ‘Making Our Roads Fit for the 21st Century’, please visit my website here.

UPDATE - 8 November 2023

The A47 is a key transport artery through our county – which is why I shared widespread local frustration at the fact that it was closed multiple times recently due to flooding at Honingham.

Having picked this matter up with National Highways and made clear that they needed to grip the issue and resolve it, I have now received an update confirming that, while most of the flooding could be attributed to sustained heavy rainfall on already saturated ground, subsequent investigations found that a pipe that should have taken surface water to the nearby River Tud was damaged.

National Highways have confirmed that work is underway to replace the damaged section of pipe – which should reduce the chance of such flooding occurring on this section of the A47 again. However, they have also made clear that they remain committed to resolving any other identified issues that may be found.

Rest assured, I will continue to follow progress closely – as part of my ongoing flooding campaign in Mid Norfolk (see here)

UPDATE - 30 October 2023

The A47 is a key transport artery through our county and I share frustration that it has been closed multiple times over recent days due to flooding.

National Highways need to grip the issue. Commuters and local communities should not have to face this constant disruption.

Rest assured, I am following up with National Highways as part of my ongoing flooding campaign work on behalf of Mid Norfolk. 

To stay up to date with my flooding campaign, please visit my campaign page here

To see yesterday’s EDP article, please click here  

Further heavy rainfall across our area has again affected a number of Mid Norfolk communities over the past 24-48 hours – with many more watching nearby watercourses and culverts closely and doing everything they can to avoid being flooded themselves.

That’s why I am liaising with local councillors, community groups and constituents to offer what support I can – connecting them to key stakeholders and ensuring that everything that can be done locally is being done.

If YOUR property or you know of someone in immediate danger, please call 999.

To report non-emergency flooding anywhere across Norfolk, please ring the dedicated Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance helpline on 0344 800 8013 or report it via their website here.

This is yet another reminder as to why we must place greater importance on flooding, drainage and water management – and, having recently reconvened the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership that I first established back in 2021 (see here), I remain firmly committed to driving forward my overall Flooding campaign work – holding local stakeholders to account while also lobbying for the vital reforms needed in Westminster.

To stay up to date with all my flooding work, please visit my campaign page here.

What does your local MP actually *do* for you and people and communities in our area? 

The first role of an MP is to serve and stand up for the people in their constituency.

Being accountable means reporting back and inviting feedback.

That’s why each year I report back to the people of Mid Norfolk with an Annual Newsletter.

Please find my 2023 Report linked below

Once again, it has been a joy for my wife Fiona and I to look through all of the wonderful entries to my annual Mid Norfolk Christmas Card Competition. There have been so many entries of an extremely high standard.

I am especially delighted to announce that the winner was Teigan-Jo Hawkes, age 13, of Fred Nicholson School – who will receive a £20 book token this year.

Dakota Walker (age 7, Great Dunham Primary School), Lizzy Lovett (age 8, Necton Primary School) and Elena Voicu (age 6, Great Ellingham Primary School) will all receive £10 book tokens – as my ‘Highly Commended’ close runners-ups.

I look forward to picking up their book tokens from the brilliant Kett’s Books in Wymondham – and to sending them across to the children early in the new year.

Thank you to all the schools and children who participated this year.

You can view the winning design, and the highly commended entries below:

We all know that small businesses are the backbone of our local Norfolk economy. However, as I visit High Street shops and local businesses across the 5 towns and 114 villages of the Mid Norfolk constituency - from pubs to light manufacturing companies, and having run my own small business here in Norfolk before standing for Parliament, it’s clear to me that the cost of living crisis is hitting our local small businesses especially hard. 

A key reason for that is the extra costs of doing business in a rural area like ours where the necessity of extra heating and travel affect both customers and businesses in a “double whammy” with consumers having less disposable income and businesses facing higher costs. 

(That’s why every Friday / Saturday I try and make sure I visit a local business to keep up to date – and why I highlight local businesses via my ‘Backing Local Businesses’ page on my website here)

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It’s why I campaigned hard in the run-up to the Autumn Statement for the Chancellor to focus the November budget measures on:

• Business Tax Cuts focussed on businesses and lower paid workers, rather than the rich
• Relief for the hospitality sector.  Specific support that has been announced for the retail, hospitality and leisure sector, which provides a lifeline for rural areas reliant on tourism, with relief rates raised from 50% to 75% up to £110,000, and for small businesses losing eligibility for relief whose increase in annual bills will be capped at £600.
• Relief for employer’s NI contributions (a major cost for employers and potentially prohibitive for small businesses) 
• Ongoing welfare reforms to reduce (and now STOP) benefits for those who CAN work but choose not to accept job offers available at the Job Centre
• Protection of the capital budget, meaning no change to current plans to continue the rollout of the better broadband and 5G connections that are so vital for rural businesses and households
• The continuation of levelling-up funding that I, along with countryside groups, have consistently argued must account fully for rural needs.
• The increase in energy bill support for households not connected to the gas grid, with the payment to those reliant on alternative fuels doubling to £200 and additional payments made available for the most vulnerable.
• The energy price guarantee continuing beyond April, although with the level increased from £2,500 to £3,000, offers some further respite from escalating costs. Energy efficiency is a particular headache in rural areas, which often suffer from an older, draughtier housing stock. I would expect the newly announced Energy Efficiency Taskforce to pay particular attention to these dwellings and the Government to prioritise them when allocating grants.
• The announcement of a 5-year, £13.6 billion transition fund and in the freezing of the rates multiplier in 2023-24.

But with the war in Ukraine causing ongoing energy and fuel price pressure and inflation, and ongoing labour shortages and low disposable incomes in rural areas like ours, I think we are going to have to go further. 

Too often rural areas get overlooked in Whitehall with too many policies designed for cities and urban communities. 

Our villages, towns, high streets and local businesses face far higher costs. 

So in the run up to the Spring Budget, I will be launching a Fair Funding Relief for Rural Areas campaign to push the Chancellor and Treasury to go further to help hard-hit local businesses and self-employed who are the backbone of the long term prosperity of rural areas like ours.  

If YOU would be interested to hear more and/or are happy to support me in this work, please simply reply “YES” and I’ll make sure you receive further direct updates on this campaign in the new year. 

 

Since becoming MP for Mid Norfolk back in 2010, I have actively worked with local community groups and councillors to promote a more local and organic model of development – one that doesn’t allow aggressive out-of-town developers to abuse the planning system and keep on dumping large, inappropriate and unsustainable developments on our towns and villages. (For full details, please visit my website here).

However, planning doesn’t just mean houses. It can also mean local businesses and industry. While I am a strong supporter of local business and light industry in our local communities and want to see our local economy thriving (especially those traditional sectors that our area is so closely tied to), we need to ensure that growth is done positively, rather than at the expense of the rural way of life that we all hold so dear – and which makes Mid Norfolk such a wonderful place to live, work and visit!

That’s why, after conversations with local residents, the Griston Community Group, the Parish Council and local councillors, I have written to Breckland to signal my shared concern and opposition towards a group of connected applications at the Coughtrey Industrial Estate.

See my letter to Breckland below.

As explained, although the site in question currently has historically permitted light industrial use, the proposals put forward would bring about a much heavier industrial usage (as evidenced by the change of use being sought) which I agree would not be appropriate in a small rural village community – especially one that has in fact already seen increased residential development and growth around the proposed site.

Rest assured, I will continue to monitor these applications closely – and look forward to visiting concerned residents and councillors in the village soon.

Superfast, reliable broadband and mobile signal is essential to life in the 21st century – which is why, throughout my time as local MP, I have placed improved provision amongst my central campaign focuses and lobbied hard for investment and action from Government and key stakeholders.

(See my ‘Campaigning for better broadband and mobile signal in Mid Norfolk’ campaign page here)

While much progress has been made (with coverage now up to 95% of Norfolk), there are still problem “not spots” that need to be addressed. I continue to work hard on behalf of those living in that final 5% – but appreciate, that for many in those areas, a reliable, working landline remains of significant importance.

That’s why I welcome BT’s announcement that they are temporarily pausing the migration of all non-voluntary, managed migrations of customers from landlines to their new digital landline service – Digital Voice.

Having seen the issues that other providers have encountered when migrating users to a digital landline, BT have taken their decision to safeguard the services of any of their own customers who may have been at risk of service problems.

Although the migration will eventually go ahead, I am pleased that BT are putting the needs of customers first – and exploring what more needs to be done to support households and businesses through this process. We must not allow our most rural areas, and particularly the elderly, vulnerable and businesses there, to be cut off.

Rest assured, I will continue to monitor progress closely – speaking up on behalf of my Mid Norfolk constituents.

Building enough houses to make sure everyone in our area has the chance for a roof of their own, while also making sure we protect our rural landscape and heritage, is often a difficult balance.

That’s why, over the past year, I have been working closely with Cllrs Bill Borrett and Gordon Bambridge, as well as the c.35 local communities that form the Campaign Against the New Town (CANT) group, to oppose this latest attempt to push through proposals for a North Elmham New Town and dump c.5000 houses in a deeply rural part of Mid Norfolk without the roads, infrastructure and services required to support both it and the existing communities.

The announcement by Breckland earlier this month that they believe further consideration of the proposed New Town site as “inappropriate” in the context of their ongoing ‘Local Plan Full Update’ was very welcome (see more here). We must not be complacent however. Developers can still bring forward an application nevertheless – which is why we must keep up awareness and pressure, and why I joined Bill, Gordon, the CANT group and Jerome Mayhew beside their banner in Guist recently.

See the video I filmed with CANT Chair John Hoskins above.

Like all parts of the UK, Mid Norfolk needs some new housing – primarily affordable housing for local people focussed in smaller pockets in each of our communities. Not a New Town of c.5000 five bedroom executive houses with no connectivity, services or employment.

Rest assured, I will continue to do all I can to stand alongside local communities in opposing these wholly inappropriate and unsustainable proposals – and support the work being done by Breckland Council and South Norfolk Council to try and focus the right type of new development in the places that make most sense (for example, the A11 Corridor).

To find out more about my work on the campaign opposing the New Town, please scroll down below.

To stay up to date on my wider work on ‘Planning and Protecting Our Local Landscapes and Heritage’, please visit my campaign page here.

UPDATE 5th December 2023

Positive news!

Following the latest round of public consultation in Breckland’s ongoing ‘Local Plan Full Update’, the Council have confirmed they consider further consideration of the proposed New Town site as “inappropriate”.

Having actively worked with local councillors Bill Borrett and Gordon Bambridge, as well as all of the local communities that comprise the Campaign Against the New Town campaign group, I welcome this news from Breckland.

This is an important step in the right direction and shows that Breckland have listened to the overwhelming consultation feedback to date and share the lack of appetite for an inappropriate and unsustainable, industrial size (c.4000 house) development deep in the heart of rural Mid Norfolk.

Rest assured however, while this announcement will mean the proposals won’t be included in the updated Breckland Local Plan, I remain committed to working with local councillors and CANT to ensure these proposals are not brought forward and forced through by the developers outside of that process.

I look forward to joining Bill, Gordon, campaigners and Jerome Mayhew MP later this week as part of our ongoing efforts to raise awareness of why these proposals are wholly inappropriate and unacceptable.

To find out more about my work on this campaign, please see below and on my ‘Planning and Protecting Our Rural Heritage and Landscape’ campaign page here.

To see the recent EDP article on this announcement, please click here.

UPDATE 7th September 2023

While the House has returned this week following the Summer Recess, the campaign opposing the North Elmham New Town proposals very much continues – which is why I have been in contact with the Campaign Against New Town campaign group (CANT) again this week.

The Government’s announcement last week regarding Nutrient Neutrality (see my views in full here) was a major, positive step forward for the building industry, especially those small, local developers that do so much important work. However, I want to reassure my concerned constituents that I do not believe the announcement changes anything with regards to the North Elmham New Town proposals.

The North Elmham New Town would see such industrial scale development in deep, rural Mid Norfolk and that’s why I am wholly united with the CANT group, and local councillors Gordon Bambridge and Bill Borrett, in opposing the proposals. Such large scale development in such a rural area would be completely unacceptable and unsuitable – fundamentally altering the character of a number of communities, while piling the pressure on dozens more with the increased congestion and demand for local, already stretched services, and also having a significant negative effect upon the local environment, habitats, and landscapes.

Breckland Council rightly threw the North Elmham New Town out last time it came up and made clear that they are focussing new housing on the A11 Nor-Cam Railway Innovation Corridor and NOT in the Wensum Valley.

I am determined to continue working with CANT, Bill and Gordon to ensure that the legitimate concerns of our local communities are being treated with the seriousness they deserve, and to ensure Breckland are once again armed with the information they need to once again throw these proposals out.

Having liaised with neighbouring MP Jerome Mayhew (who, himself, has a number of concerned villages in his Broadland constituency) over the summer, I look forward to driving forward this active and ongoing campaign again in the weeks and months ahead.

Please see all of my recent work on this campaign below.

UPDATE 20th June 2023

For too long we have seen developments forced through by national housebuilders against the wishes of local people and the Local Council’s Plan.

That’s why, as part of my wider campaign efforts on Planning and the protection of our rural landscapes and heritage, I continue to be so actively involved in the local campaign opposing the New Town proposals that look to be resurfacing around North Elmham, Billingford and Bintree – holding another meeting in North Elmham this past Friday, with Cllr Bill Borrett, Cllr Gordon Bambridge and representatives of the c30 villages that would be affected were a New Town (disguised as a “Garden Village”) built in this deeply rural part of Mid Norfolk.

Breckland Council rightly threw the North Elmham New Town out last time it came up and made clear that they are focussing new housing on the A11 NorCam Railway Innovation Corridor and NOT in the Wensum Valley.

I am determined to make sure the Parish Councils and residents in the c30 villages that would be affected are heard when they make very clear that they do NOT want to see a New Town in their deeply rural area as an Option in the next Local Plan – and welcomed the opportunity to update the local campaign on my efforts since our last meeting (detailed in the webstories below), as well as to discuss next steps.

To see the EDP’s latest piece on the campaign, please click here.

To stay up to date with all my work on planning and protecting our local environment and heritage, please visit my campaign page here.

UPDATE 20th June 2023

As our collective efforts continue on the campaign opposing the new ‘Garden Village/New Town’ proposals that may be resurfacing around North Elmham, Billingford and Bintree, I am looking forward to joining representatives of many of the deeply concerned c.35 local parishes (in the north of Mid Norfolk, as well as just across the border in Broadland) again later this week, with Cllr Bill Borrett and Cllr Gordon Bambridge.

It will be an opportunity to update local community figures on my recent conversation with Jerome Mayhew, who’s Broadland constituency also contains a number of parishes concerned by the proposals that may be coming forward. I also look forward to sharing details of letter I recently wrote to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP) as well – making clear my belief that new Garden Village/Town settlements should be focussed on key transport routes with the ability to sustainably cater for them, rather than in deeply rural areas with minimal infrastructures and service and which have virtually no ability to improve them without causing untold environmental and existing community damage.

Rest assured, I remain firmly committed to working with Bill, Gordon and the local parishes, and will post further updates in due course.

UPDATE 30th May 2023

Further to my previous posts in relation to the campaign against the ‘Garden Village/New Town’ proposals that may be resurfacing around North Elmham, Billingford and Bintree, I welcomed the brilliant article in the EDP today, highlighting that more than 30 parish councils have now united behind that campaign – up from the c.15 it was just a few weeks ago.

See the article here.

I remain firmly committed to working with and supporting local parishes, and local councillors Bill Borrett and Gordon Bambridge, as we collectively raise awareness on why this highly rural location is completely inappropriate and unsustainable for an industrial scale development of several thousand houses.

To see my previous webstories and updates on this issue, please scroll down below the picture of the submission.

To stay up to date with my ongoing campaign efforts on this issue, please do regularly check back in on my  Planning and Protecting Our Rural Landscape and Heritage’ campaign page here.

UPDATE 18th May 2023

Ahead of the deadline of the ‘Breckland Local Plan Update – Issues and Options Report for Consultation’, I have written to the Leader of Breckland Council to ensure that my opposition, in support for local councillors Bill Borrett and Gordon Bambridge and the c.15 concerned Parish Councils and communities in the area, is formally recorded and considered as part of the process.

Please see my submission below.

(To see my previous webstories on this issue, please scroll down below the picture of the submission).

UPDATE 3rd May 2023

Further to my previous posts on 5th and 24th April 2023, I am delighted to be able to share the below article published in the EDP this week – further highlighting why I, and many others, are opposing the idea of a new Garden Town to the north of Dereham.

A link to the online article can be found here.

UPDATE – 24th April 2023

Further to my post on 5th April 2023, I am delighted to be able to share the below Op-Ed I recently wrote for the Dereham Times – outlining in further detail why I am opposing the idea of a Garden Town to the north of Dereham.

5th APRIL 2023 WEBSTORY

For decades now, our planning system hasn’t been delivering the housing we need, in the places we need it, for the people who need it. For too long, the system appears to have been driven by the national volume house builders who too often make their money from land banking and high density commuter housing estates on the edge of existing developments – rather than through a proper planning system run to deliver for the people who need planning to work for them, instead of being done TO them.

I’ve long been concerned by the amount of development coming to areas like our own in rural Mid Norfolk – which is often inappropriate, “industrial” in scale and unsustainable. While most of our villages can take and are indeed up for (when properly asked) taking some additional new housing (without which our communities will gradually fade away), I fundamentally believe that more needs to be done to give local communities a greater say in how they develop in the years to come (with greater protections), which is why I have been so vocal in my opposition to the way so many large national developers abuse and take advantage of the planning system to dump such inappropriate and unsustainable developments on our towns and villages.
 
That’s why, through The Norfolk Way project I set up before I became an MP, I have been so vocal in advocating for a better model of growth and development that places greater emphasis on delivering small pockets of housing of the type and aesthetic desired by local communities, and in the places they earmark. I truly believe the spirit of Localism enshrined in the 2011 Localism Act should be enhanced, with the Act itself strengthened to remove some of the loopholes we’ve seen exploited. (To read more about my views in full, please visit my ‘Planning and Protecting Our Rural Heritage and Landscape’ campaign page here) I was delighted to see the NPPF reformed in the autumn by Michael Gove to give more power to local planners.

I continue to make the case I have long made that the right way to plan housing is to give local councils, democratically accountable to the local residents they serve, the freedoms and incentives to plan properly for the right sort of housing and growth where it is needed ie:

• around hotspots of economic growth
• on brownfield sites in areas needing regeneration
• around growth towns with the infrastructure and services available to sustain further growth
• in villages with a Neighbourhood Plan setting out the amount of housing they are happy/able to take and which ensures affordable & appropriate local housing for local workers and residents

That’s what the Breckland and South Norfolk Council Local Plans rightly aim to do. What we don’t need in rural Norfolk is massive commuter estate “New Towns” dumped in the middle of rural mud Norfolk without proper infrastructure, facilities, sustainable transport links or fit with the existing pattern of development.

The North Elmham New Town

The North Elmham New Town would also represent massive development of the precious River Wensum chalk stream habitats (not to mention a Site of Specific Scientific Interest).

That’s why I was delighted to chair a meeting on Friday in North Elmham with local parish councils and local councillors Bill Borrett and Cllr Gordon Bambridge to make clear that the idea of a new town in the area will NOT be supported by ourselves as elected local  representatives.

Bill and Gordon confirmed that Breckland Council are NOT zoning this area for major housebuilding, and will oppose a re-application of the New Town as we did successfully last time it was proposed.

New Towns and Garden Villages

Whilst there are places in the UK where there may be a strong case for a new generation of garden towns and villages, with all of the necessary infrastructure and transport links (either to drive regeneration as in parts of the post-industrial North, or to alleviate the pressure around major growth hits spots like Cambridge), North Elmham is not a sustainable location.

I can think of several possible sites in East Anglia that could perhaps take such a garden town or village: specifically the dilapidated station sites on the Cambridge-Ely-Brandon-Thetford-Attleborough-Wymondham-Norwich railway line – as part of the Oxford-Cambridge East-West Railway Development Company I have championed over the years, and especially during my time as Minister for the Future of Transport at the DfT.
 
However, I’ve also been very clear that, for any such development, we need to be sure that:

1. Any such developments must avoid the loss of ancient woodland and high quality farmland
2. We see a serious commitment to Net Zero and building into the plans a higher quality, cleaner, greener standard of life – not continuing to same old, lazy model of house dumping that sees thousands of additional vehicles tearing through old country lanes and causing more congestion and rat-running
3. There is serious investment into public and private infrastructure – with proper road, rail, cycle and walking routes
4. Any such development is planned appropriately and sustainably, and that it makes sense in the wider community context.

 
I have not seen any evidence to suggest that a garden town or village would be appropriate in this part of Mid Norfolk, and given the rural and inaccessible nature of North Elmham and the surrounding villages, the already serious congestion on the nearby road network and the nationally significant environmental and habitat importance of the Wensum Valley, I cannot envisage any circumstances in which this idea could be taken seriously.

To my mind, it would make far more sense for such a significant level of growth to be focussed down closer to the A11 Corridor – which Breckland Council themselves have, rightly, recognised is the key growth artery in our region and have tried to focus the bulk of the district’s future growth. I know the Leader of Breckland Council, Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, and both Cllr Bill Borrett and Cllr Gordon Bambridge strongly support this.

That’s why I was delighted to join the c12 local parish councils representing the areas that would be affected by this idea to make clear my opposition.

Next Steps

At the meeting we agreed some important Next Steps:

• To reconvene a meeting of ALL the parish councils in the affected area after the forthcoming local elections on May 4th to make sure all write to Breckland Council formally to express their concerns.
• Bill and Gordon and I will liaise to ensure all the local residents who object have their objections properly acknowledged by BDC.
• I will invite my neighbouring MP, Jerome Mayhew, to join that follow-up meeting given a number of his Broadland communities are in close proximity to the site around North Elmham and would also be affected.
• I will write to Michael Gove (Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) and the Minister for Housing to make clear why any New Towns and Garden Villages should only be  delivered in the right locations with the associated connectivity, infrastructure and services required) and not in inappropriate locations with the obvious environmental, sustainability and transport issues this scale of development would inevitably threaten.

 Please be assured that I will keep on this in the weeks and months ahead.

Further to the update I posted yesterday (see here), I am now able to share a copy of the letter, co-written with Henry Cator (Chair of the Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance), that I today submitted to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety and the Minister for Water and Rural Growth.

Together, Henry and I have highlighted four key policy areas we believe need to be addressed:

1. Riparian Ownership Rights
2. Funding for Lead Local Flood Authorities and Internal Drainage Boards
3. Developer rights to connect surface water to public sewers
4. Stricter legal obligations – with large fines if necessary to fund compensation and remedial work – on large scale developers, the Environment Agency, water companies and landowners who fail to fulfil their responsibilities and/or cause flooding.

And we have requested a meeting with both ministers to discuss Flooding in greater depth – as Lord Dannatt and I secured previously.

One of the reasons for stepping back from the Government frontbench was to have more time to help tackle this and to be able to introduce a Bill/legal reforms to the necessary planning rules to get this fixed. We cannot have households across Mid Norfolk continuing to be repeatedly flooded.  

Rest assured, I will keep on this.

To stay up to date with my Flooding Campaign, please click here