4.9.1 Hundon is a village located approximately nine kilometres north-east of Haverhill and approximately 18 kilometres south-east of Newmarket, with a population of 1,915 (2018 mid-year estimate). Hundon has a reasonable range of facilities including:

• a primary school
• a pre-school
• a Public House
• a convenience food shop
• a play ground and artificial grass pitch.

Constraints and opportunities

• Growth in Hundon is constrained by Lower Road to the south and Mill Road to the north. Further, the southern boundary of the village is covered by a flood zone.
• The land in Hundon rises in a northerly direction as the village is situated on the slope of the valley.
• Lower Road forms a boundary to development towards the south and Mill Road to the north.
• The majority of the listed buildings in Hundon line North Street, in the east of the village. A conservation area also covers much of the eastern half of Hundon.
• There are three archaeological sites close to the village. Hundon’s historic settlement core centres on Church Street, and North and Lower North Streets. There are traces of an earlier settlement and crop marks around the village which are recorded in the county Historic Environment Record (HER).
• The southern boundary of Hundon village is covered by a flood zone which will prevent any further development in this direction.
• Hundon has reasonably good road access to the A143 for Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill. Local roads and junctions within the village may require upgrading in order to cope with additional development.

Settlement status

4.9.2 Hundon is designated as a local service centre in the current local plan in recognition of the role it has to play in serving the residents of the village and those who live in the surrounding rural area. It is proposed that its status is retained as a local service centre in the new West Suffolk settlement hierarchy.

4.9.3 The former St Edmundsbury area Rural Vision 2031 (2014) did not allocate any sites for development within Hundon.

Site options

4.9.4 The level of development will be influenced by the settlement strategy which will determine the distribution of development across the district as well as the existing environmental and physical constraints and the overall capacity for growth in the settlement.

4.9.5 A number of sites have been submitted to the council by landowners and developers for potential inclusion in the local plan. Included sites in the Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) that lie within or adjacent to the settlement boundary are shown on the map below, as these have passed the initial tests of being suitable, available and achievable, and so are more likely to be sites that could be suitable for allocation in the local plan.

4.9.6 It is important to note that at this stage these sites have not been selected as preferred sites for development, but we are seeking views on them to assist with the preparation of the next draft of the plan, where decisions will be made on which, if any, sites would be suitable for allocation.

4.9.7 The table below provides information on these sites, setting out information on the proposed use and planning status. Also below is a map of the main settlement constraints to assist you in making a response.

4.9.8 Your comments on these sites will help in drawing up the next draft of the West Suffolk Local Plan for consultation in 2021. This will set out the council’s preferred options for the distribution of housing and other land uses across the district. The council will also consult on the preferred sites across the district to achieve this distribution.

Hundon settlement constraints map

Hundon settlement map showing SHELAA included sites

Hundon - included SHELAA sites