Development in Costessey & Bowthorpe

About the site in Costessey & Bowthorpe

The proposed development site is the land south of the Hampdens estate in Costessey, west of the Chapel Break estate in Bowthorpe and north of the New Road.

It is a greenfield area currently used for agriculture but is rich in biodiversity and history. It includes Charter Wood, planted in 1995 by volunteers as part of Norwich City Council's celebration of the city's 800th anniversary under the Royal Charter granted by Richard I in 1194. Twenty thousand trees were planted to recreate lost medieval woodlands, providing habitat for wildlife and open space for recreation.

The site has three owners, which own different parts of it.

Springmount Investments (Jersey) Ltd own the largest share (~99 acres), to the north of Charter Wood and also the western extension of Charter Wood.

A group of private individuals own the fields in the south-west corner of the site (~30 acres).

Norwich City Council own the remaining part of the site, including the main part of Charter Wood and fields in the south-east (~25 acres).

The Proposed Development

Wain Estates, through their agents Bidwells, has proposed developing up to 800 homes on the site. For context, the Hampdens estate in Costessey is far smaller (~500 homes) and Chapel Break in Bowthorpe has a similar number of homes to the proposal (~800).

The proposal, submitted for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) scoping opinion on 25 July 2025 (reference 2025/2331), envisions residential units, potential schools, roads, and open spaces. South Norfolk Council issued the opinion on 11 September 2025, highlighting concerns from consultees like Natural England and the Environment Agency.

View details on the South Norfolk planning portal.

Wain Estates carried out a pre-application consultation with some of the affected local residents. More details can be found on Wain Estates' consultation website.

The Planning Process

Understanding the planning process is essential for submitting effective objections to the application proposed by Wain Estates.

Most planning applications are determined by the assigned planning officer under delegated authority. However, in cases involving contentious or large-scale developments, such as this proposal for up to 800 homes, the decision can be escalated for further scrutiny by the council's planning committee, comprising elected councillors.

While the ultimate decision rests with the councillors on the planning committee, their authority is constrained by stringent planning policies established at local, county and national levels. Decisions must adhere to these policies and cannot be based solely on personal or community preferences. In other words, a planning application is not subject to a popular vote!

For instance, an application could face unanimous opposition from residents, yet still receive approval if it complies fully with all relevant policies.

As residents, our primary responsibility is to monitor the involved councils—South Norfolk District Council, Costessey Town Council, Norwich City Council, and Bawburgh Parish Council—to ensure a thorough evaluation of the application. Councils may overlook potential policy breaches unless they are explicitly raised during consultations by residents or other stakeholders. It is therefore crucial to identify and emphasise every conceivable policy violation in formal consultation submissions.

Responses from local councils (Costessey Town Council, Norwich City Council and Bawburgh Parish Council) carry greater weight than individual objections. Residents should engage and lobby these bodies, highlighting policy concerns, to encourage formal opposition rather than approval.

Policy-based Reasons to Oppose

TODO

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FAQs

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See our Objection Templates page. You can use our templates as a guide for writing objections.

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