Small scale development adjacent to existing villages provides an opportunity to bring prosperity to rural areas, if designed in a positive and sustainable way.

Additional Code Requirements for Small Scale Developments

SD 1.1 Schemes of 5 homes of more should provide a Local Area for Play open spaces in accordance with Fields in Trust Standards.

SD 1.2 Schemes of 5 homes or more must provide multi-functional public realm. This may include features such as seating, swales / raingardens, edible landscapes and play.

SD 1.3 Must use only homezone, mews, rural lane, car-free or farmstead cluster street types.

SD 1.4 Where located within the open countryside and / or adjacent to the small villages, hamlets and farmsteads (as defined in Uttlesford Places) are encouraged to be of exceptional design quality such as passivhaus.

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Case Study: Carrowbreck Meadows, Norwich by Hamson Barron Smith (14 homes)

Carrowbreck Meadows contextually responds to local and historic housing typologies while embracing sustainability principles into their design. Comprised of 14 passivhaus homes, Carrowbreck Meadows is the largest of its kind in Greater Norwich.

Located on the edge of Norwich, the small scale development is a contemporary rendition of the ‘Norfolk-style’ typology, reflecting the historic barn vernacular found throughout the region.

The materials compliment the tree line encasing the development to create the feeling of a meadow. A woodland path has also been built for the local community, forming a green corridor between Norwich City and Drayton woods.