South Norfolk Council (SNC) is consulting on plans to build at least 1200 houses in villages similar to Little Melton, no upper limit has been set. One preferred site and two shortlisted sites, each considered suitable for 25 houses, have been proposed for Little Melton. There is also a proposal to include a small triangle of land between Ringwood and Limes Close as being within the Settlement Boundary.
Sites offered for development in 2018
In 2014, South Norfolk Council published its Local Plan. The plan suggested that 10 to 20 houses should be built in LM over the next 10 years. The development at Ringwood Close provided 20 houses, 6 of which were 'affordable'. Subsequent developments at Limes Close and All Saints (each of 30 houses) were allowed because there was judged to be a shortfall in the housing supply for the Greater Norwich Development Area. Recently, a planning inspector overruled SNC and gave permission for 30 more houses to be built south of School Lane because the inspector considered that there was still a shortfall in the housing supply. So 110 houses will be built in LM instead of the 20 that were planned.
Dong wish to build a new windfarm in the North Sea and National Grid want it to connect to the substation at Mangreen; this requires Dong to construct an 80m wide cable corridor from near Cromer to the substation. In order to minimise transmission losses the cable should follow the shortest route. The cables will be buried 1.2m underground in 6 trenches about 8m apart (could be 0.7m where there are obstructions). Dong have been planning the route for several years and are proposing the route shown below through Little Melton - the purple area shows a possible alternate route.
Read more: Dong Wind farm Cable and the Consequences for Little Melton
