5.12.1 Kentford has a population of 461 (2018 mid-year estimate). The village is approximately eight kilometres east of Newmarket, 10 kilometres south of Mildenhall and 14 kilometres west of Bury St Edmunds. Kentford has a limited range of facilities including:

• a public house
• a village store and combined post office
• a commercial garage
• good bus links to and from the village.

Constraints and opportunities

• There is a frequent bus service to Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket.
• There are some local employment opportunities within the village.
• There is an opportunity to maintain an important open strategic landscape gap to separate the two parts to Kentford’s settlement boundary.
• There is an absence of sports pitches, non-pitch sports areas and playgrounds in the village.
• The A14 runs to the north of the village forming a physical boundary to further development.
• An extensive area of Flood Zones 2 and 3, associated with the River Kennett, runs north to south through the settlement.
• Breckland Special Protection Area designated for stone curlew, woodland and nightjar, and its constraint zones limit development to the north-east.
• The village and its immediate hinterland contain several known archaeological sites and listed buildings.

Settlement status

5.12.2 Kentford is designated as a primary village in the current local plan as it provides a few services to meet some of the day to day needs of its residents. However, it is proposed that Kentford is categorised as a Type A village in the new West Suffolk settlement hierarchy due to the lack of certain facilities like a school. This would mean that the opportunity for allocating only small sites in or adjacent to the village could be explored through the preparation of the local plan.

5.12.3 The former Forest Heath area Site Allocations Local Plan (2019) has allocated two sites, both of which have planning permission and are under construction:

• 2.3ha of land for approximately 34 dwellings
• 2.2ha of land for mixed use for an additional 63 dwellings and a racehorse training establishment.

Site options

5.12.4 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.

5.12.5 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.

5.12.6 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.

5.12.7 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.

5.12.8 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.

Kentford settlement constraints map

Kentford settlement map showing SHELAA included sites

Kentford - included SHELAA sites