Build bypass before homes urge Long Stratton residents
Long Stratton residents view plans for 1,800 homes and a long-awaited bypass. Picture:Lucy Begbie - Credit: Archant
Locals who turned out to view plans for a new bypass and houses in their village are adamant the road should be built before homes.
Long-suffering residents of Long Stratton have been pushing for a road to alleviate the traffic that has jammed up their high street for decades.
With queues over a mile long at peak times, they are keen to welcome a solution to a problem that blights their village.
But at a public exhibition held by Norfolk Homes on Monday, July 17 at the Methodist Hall in Long Stratton, it was clear that confidence in the bypass being built was shaky.
And concern that 1,800 extra homes would put a strain on already 'creaking' local infrastructure was voiced by many.
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Long Stratton resident Ruth Weanie said: 'The infrastructure in Long Stratton is at breaking point. Any development needs to be sympathetic with the needs of the community such as schools, doctors and shopping facilities.
'For the sake of the traffic, we need a bypass but not houses first and bypass later.'
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Maxine Brown, also viewing the plans on display, said: ' A road was promised before they built 350 houses at Churchfields but 20 years on we have the houses but no road.'
Resident Kyle Borley said: 'We live in a world where more homes are needed but it's where you put them. For me it's paramount that the bypass is built before the homes are in.'
Managing director of Norfolk Land Ltd Terry Harper said: 'A lot of feedback over some time has shown people would have preferred not so much growth.
'However as the principle has now been adopted by the district council, the inevitability is being seen as more of an opportunity to have a stake in what does happen and create a very attractive place to live, work and relax in.'
Parish councillor Paul Worley said: 'Long Stratton is going to have to expand. Our aim is everyone in the parish gets what they want and they are not trampled over by developers.
'The trouble is these people have been trampled over more than once.'