Planning
Parking Planning (updated) Litter (updated) Beyond Lakenheath Village (updated)	Lakenheath has already grown considerably in size in the last twenty or so years. On top of individual or small developments, planning permission has been granted in recent years for a further 663 new houses in Lakenheath village. We haven’t seen them yet, but we do know that they will bring no new employment opportunities and the road system has not improved despite the huge increase in traffic. And, of course, 576 homes transferred to the District from USAF at Lords Walk without facilities or health provision. This is on top of the several hundred houses built in the last twenty years, but If new buildings are not part of a big development, they are treated as “windfall” and excluded from planning numbers needed to fit Central Government targets. All I can say is, ok, don’t believe the Land Registry figures if you must, but even the Census figures show an increase in our population in the last ten years from 8046 in 2011 to 9437 in 2021! According to my arithmetic that’s 1391 more in ten years. Perhaps they’re all living in tents in the forest? What is absolutely certain is that with all the recent and future development, we have seen nothing but a general degradation of our roads, services and infrastructure. Most if not all of these developments have been driven by the District Council’s requirement to meet Government targets for the building of new houses. West Suffolk have to find somewhere for hundreds of houses each year. Fair enough, but our figure would have been even higher if the Official Examiner had not stepped in because Lakenheath was “over-burdened” in the then Forest Heath’s plan. Why did the District Council try to impose such a disproportionate share on Lakenheath? Is it because we didn’t have anyone who represented Lakenheath rather than their Conservative chums? There is possibly some good news; it appears that the Rabbit Hill Covert site has now transferred (again) to Hyde Housing, so at least we should get somewhere for some of the local people who qualify for Social Housing. But the other approved developments will bring either commuters or retirees into the village; which includes USAF personnel from the additional squadrons we are getting. A Conservative candidate will tell us – as he has before – that there are 160 Affordable Homes in there and that of course they wouldn’t be built without the proper infrastructure in place. Firstly that number should be 199 according to the Councils own policies, and secondly Affordable Homes are unaffordable to our young people. Proper infrastructure? Commuters will need good roads, and everyone will need adequate Health provision and other facilities. Originally the developer’s contribution to the NHS for Station Rd was going to go to Mildenhall and Red Lodge – a “mistake”! And so far as roads are concerned Suffolk Highways wanted traffic lights on the B1112 in Eriswell and cycle tracks to get from Station Rd into Lakenheath village, though they didn’t say where these tracks would be. On Station Rd maybe? I’d be astonished if anyone would call that “proper infrastructure”. In 2020 the Government issued a White Paper called “Planning for the Future”.  It would mean a major overhaul of the whole planning system, changing it from ‘decision-based’ to ‘rules-based’, and West Suffolk are consulting on a new Local Plan which will become the local “rules” in the new process. Whether this becomes legislation we’ll have to see. Whatever happens we need to do two things. Firstly we can elect a Councillor who can argue for the people who live here rather than the Party, and remind them that houses are not built in West Suffolk – they are built in its towns and villages. Secondly Lakenheath will have its own ‘Neighbourhood Plan’ which will become a part of the larger District plan and will apply to any further proposed building in the village. I am already working on that!
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