Objective 2: Delivering a sustainable Norfolk

Summary of Objective

To bring growth and a thriving economy through good links to services, jobs, education and skills and meet the demands of future generations. 

We work closely with district councils and the Major and Estate Development Team at NCC, among others, to monitor and implement the actions set out in the LTP.

Policies

• Policy 5: We'll work with partners to inform decisions about new development. We'll ensure they're well connected to maximise use of sustainable and active transport options. This will make new developments more attractive places to live, thus supporting a strong sense of the public realm
• Policy 6: We'll work with the development community and local stakeholders to ensure greener transport solutions are embedded in land-use planning to significantly reduce traffic generation by private car. We'll also work to ensure the necessary infrastructure to support the transition to a clean transport network is in place. We'll seek the monitoring of any carbon impacts and that they're offset by locally applicable measures. As part of our ongoing work on developing guidance for how we deal with new development we will, among other things, consider how to establish carbon plans and budgets and devise methodologies to achieve carbon neutrality.
• Policy 7:  In Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs), development will need to show its positive contribution to tackling the air quality problem.

Delivery highlights

Norfolk Strategic Infrastructure Delivery Plan

In 2024 the Norfolk Strategic Infrastructure Delivery Plan was reviewed and updated. Several new projects were submitted and appraised for inclusion into the plan. 

The theme of decarbonisation and sustainable growth was a central focus of the 2022/23 plan and we encourage all new and existing projects to show their contribution to this overall strategic aim. Norfolk CEX and leaders endorsed the plan in May and members supported it at the July I&D Select Committee. The final plan will be going to Cabinet in September. We reformatted the new plan into an online Story Map.

School Streets trial

Working with partners, including Active Norfolk, a 'School Streets' trial programme ran from May 2022. 

School Streets are timed road closures around selected schools, aiming to restrict vehicle access during school drop-off and pick up times. This cuts congestion around schools, making the roads safer and boosting the number of children and parents cycling, walking, and wheeling to school. 

Trials allow us to monitor support and effectiveness of these schemes before we implement them on a wider scale. NCC will carefully consider the effectiveness and impact of School Streets before determining next steps. Currently, there is a single School Street operating at Robert Kett Primary School in Wymondham.

Long Stratton Bypass

Construction of the Long Stratton Bypass has begun. The project, which has been in development for over 10 years, provides an improvement to the A140, part of the Major Road network. It will enhance the environment in Long Stratton town centre and is a vital part of the infrastructure needed to bring forward up to 2,000 planned new homes and employment land.

Sustainable growth

Work has been done, and is continuing, into the infrastructure requirements to help deliver sustainable growth in the county. Connecting people and places by ensuring residents have access to leisure, education, employment and health services, making using a private car a choice rather than a necessity. 

One example of this from 2022-23 is the A143 Bradwell study. This included traffic surveys to build a Paramics model to understand the post-pandemic situation in terms of ability to accommodate extra traffic from new homes in the Bradwell area.

The Greater Norwich Local Plan supports delivery of sustainable growth. It includes strategic policies to guide future development and plans to protect the environment and ensure delivery of development is done in a way which promotes sustainability. NCC has worked as part of the partnership to promote sustainable development as part of the plan. This plan is now adopted.

Hethel Employment Area

Work is progressing to provide access for the Hethel Employment Area. Hethel is a nationally-significant engineering and manufacturing excellence hub, home to Lotus Cars, Hethel Engineering Centre, Classic Team Lotus, and Turing Park. 

Development will deliver more than 1,000 new jobs and generate £57million GVA per annum once the site is built out. It will also bring wider benefits to traffic circulation and promoting walking and cycling.  There is a resolution to grant planning consent for the project integrated into the Lotus Cars factory expansion planning proposals. Work is now under way on detailed design.

North Walsham and Thetford

We're working with the promoters' consultants, North Norfolk District Council and Broadland District Council, on the transport evidence required to support pre-application discussions for major growth in North Walsham.

We've worked in partnership with Breckland District Council and National Highways on development of a traffic model at Thetford. This has helped analyse options for A11 junctions as well as local issues in the town. We want to enable sustainable growth, including the Thetford Sustainable Urban Extension, a major mixed-use development site on the northern side of Thetford, next to the A11, to come forward in a way that won't compromise the A11 as a strategic route, or local connections on the road network in the town. 

Countywide Air Quality Group

We've worked in partnership with all district and borough councils across Norfolk, as well as other key stakeholders, as part of a Countywide Air Quality Group. NCC hosts this group.

The group collaborated on a joint funding bid to DEFRA in Autumn 2023 to attract funding for air quality measures across the county.  Although the bid was unsuccessful, the group received positive feedback. They plan to continue to collaborate on funding opportunities and other joint working opportunities in future.   

Travel plans  

We supported pilot work on travel plans. Work is currently under way to look at how to monitor these. At end of January 2024 we submitted a bid to the Ashden Foundation's 'Let's go Zero' school fund to expand our current approach to schools. We've initiated the extension and we've engaged with a number of high schools. 

This work is ongoing as part of the wider development plan for residential sites, taking effect from the financial year 2024-25. We have also engaged with schools on developing new travel plans using funding secured from the Active Travel Fund and Public Health.

Work for next period

2024 will see the roll forward of a new market town Network Improvement Strategy for Watton in Breckland. Local plans have identified a large amount of planned housing and employment growth around many of Norfolk's market towns. 

A programme of studies looking at the transport impacts of growth in market towns was previously undertaken. This was to allow us to identify and plan interventions ahead of the growth with 10 NISs existing and further planned. 

The project supports district Local Plans, the County's Together for Norfolk Strategy and Local Transport Plan to identify infrastructure to support development and improve access and active travel modes.

We continue ongoing engagement with district councils. Strategic Planning Officers Group (NSPG) meetings are held on a monthly basis. Teams are responding to Breckland District Council's consultation on emerging development strategy and attending the North Norfolk Local Plan examination hearings. We have also provided transport input to East Norwich Master Plan.

The updated Planning and Health Protocol is being agreed/endorsed by the individual local planning authorities. The Norfolk Strategic Planning Member Forum had the final version of the Protocol presented to them in May. 

A subgroup of the Norfolk Strategic Planning Group, consisting of planners, public health and NHS are currently addressing feedback made at the last Member Forum. Further amendments are being progressed and will be presented to the next Member Forum Meeting in autumn.

The Travel plan target has been adjusted for the change in the way they are monitored at new developments. Developments with over 150 dwellings need a travel plan and everyone who delivers travel plans, developers and AtoBetter, are now required to submit standardised reports. These are improving the data on how people are travelling.