5.4.1 Fornham All Saints is located centrally in the district, five kilometres the north of Bury St Edmunds and 21 kilometres from Newmarket and has a population of approximately 1,123 (2018 mid-year estimate).

5.4.2 The village has a limited range of services and facilities, comprising a public house and a playing field.

5.4.3 The village lies in close proximity to the edge of Bury St Edmunds and is separated from it by an agricultural field and new country park lying to the south of the A1101 and Tut Hill. To the east of this, a strategic housing site known as Marham Park is currently under construction which will deliver some 950 new homes with associated services and facilities. The development will bring with it access to further facilities and services in close proximity to the village, including an improved bus service to Bury St Edmunds, a local centre and formal and informal recreation and open space.

Constraints and opportunities

• There is a good bus service to Fornham all Saints, more than one an hour.
• Flood Zones 2 and 3 along the eastern edge of the village.
• There is an extensive conservation area beyond the settlement boundary and 19 listed buildings.
• To the west of the village lies the designated special landscape area to the north the River Lark and to the east a hotel with a golf club complex.
• There is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) which limits opportunities for development to the south-east.
• Coalescence should be avoided with the settlement of Bury St Edmunds which lies to the south-east and Fornham St Genevieve to the north-east.

Settlement status

5.4.4 Fornham All Saints is designated as an infill village in the current local plan where normally only small-scale infill development of five homes would be allowed within the settlement boundary. Since this designation, the village no longer has a village shop or post office, but the public house, recreation area, commutable bus service and close proximity to Bury St Edmunds are all sustainability indicators which warrants its categorisation as a Type A village in the new West Suffolk settlement hierarchy. This would mean that the opportunity for allocating small sites in or adjacent to the village could be explored through the preparation of the local plan.

Site options

5.4.5 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.

5.4.6 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.

5.4.7 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.

5.4.8 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.

5.4.9 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.

Fornham All Saints settlement constraints map

Fornham All Saints settlement map showing SHELAA included sites

Fornham All Saints – included SHELAA site