Walsham le Willows

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Shepherd’s Grove, Stanton DC/22/2190/HYB, Land At Shepherds Grove Bury Road Stanton Suffolk.

The planning application has been submitted and the development, if approved, will bring this to the Stanton site: https://www.copart.co.uk/locations/sandy-gb-401

The proposed Stanton site is estimated to be larger than the site in Sandy, Bedfordshire.

The Parish Council objects to this proposal in principle.  The negative impact of such a large-scale development outweighs any possible benefits. This view is shared by other Parish Councils in the area including Hepworth.

What does this have to do with you?

The Parish Council is bringing this to your attention because individual parish council and individual resident objections carry little weight in the planning process. On the other hand, large numbers of objections focused on planning law, can have an impact.  If you are concerned about the impact that the development of this site by Copart is going have on Walsham and villages around the A143 please submit objections in writing or online – details at the end.

What the Parish Council is doing?

As more information becomes available it will be published inlcuding predicted short and long term impacts should this development proceed.

The Parish Council is attempting some co-ordination of all potentially affected parishes and has drafted initial objections for Walsham.  The full initial draft can be found in the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th January 2023 on the website (appendix 2).  https://tinyurl.com/yck2meaa

The Parish Council has engaged a consultant to review the initial objections against the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which may strengthen the case. This should be with the Parish Council by 10th February.

Application documents

Find the application documents on the West Suffolk Planning website: https://tinyurl.com/4vtxme47

Closing date for responses is 4th February 2023 UNLESS YOU REQUEST AN EXTENSION (28th February is suggested) – details at end. 

Background & Summary of Parish Council objections

The land where Sumner Road joins the A143 owned by the property company Jaynic is now the subject of a planning application to create a Copart site for recovered and used vehicles which will be delivered to the site, stored and moved again once sold online.  This Copart site will be one of the largest in the UK owned and operated by an American company. 

The development will involve the creation of a roundabout at the junction of Summer Road with the A143 and a link road to the industrial estate at Shepherd’s Grove, Stanton.  The proposal is also for an eatery or fast food outlet with additional commercial premises close to the roundabout.

Parish Council Objections in principle:

1. The development is an urbanisation of the countryside on a scale which is inappropriate for the rural area.
2. The development would detract from a largely agricultural landscape.
3. The development of Plots A to C for the proposed use would be out of keeping with their surroundings.
4. That the local road infrastructure is not suitable to support the development.
5. The type of development is better suited in much closer proximity to a major trunk road (as with other Copart sites). The Parish Council wants to know that other were sites considered as is required as part of the the Environmental Impact Assessment.
6. The development of a centralised facility to gather many vehicles will add road miles to the recycling process and create unnecessary carbon emissions.
7. The development would increase noise, light and air pollution in the environment.

What Can You Do?

Submit comments online at https://tinyurl.com/4vtxme47 or by email to planning.help@westsuffolk.gov.uk quoting: FAO Gary Hancox, DC/22/2190/HYB, Land At Shepherds Grove Bury Road Stanton Suffolk.

If you have intend to comment it is suggested that you:

1. Contact Gary Hancox by email now and request an extension to 28th February for the submission of your comments.

2. Obtaining an extension for the submission of your comments will allow you to seek more information and, if you also object, maybe adjust your comments based on the final objections made by the Parish Council which will have been reviewed against the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), hopefully to be reported to the Parish Council by 10^th February. This will hopefully strengthen the objections.

The most important thing is to submit something at some point before the advertised submission deadline (but preferably an extended deadline you may have been individually granted).

3. If you object to this development please do try make the same points as those the Parish Council have put forward but in your own words as far as possible.  As is always the case, ‘unfocused’, ‘NIMBY’ type objections are largely ignored in the planning process. Effective objections are based on planning law, hence step 2.

Walsham has had an enthusiastic and prolific history group since 1980 and it is still going strong. The group still meets regularly, and have produced a Brief History of Walsham, and comprehensive Reviews on particular aspects of Walsham’s historical record which have been published at the rate of three or four a year since 1997, and a selection of books and compact discs.

Walsham le Willows has a rich history that is based on the survival of exceptionally good 14th-century manorial records which led to Walsham being chosen as the setting for the fictionalised history The Black Death: An Intimate History, by John Hatcher set in the years following the summer of 1348 as the Black Death ravaged European society.  John Hatcher used the excellent manorial records to ‘fill in the gaps’ for his story.