5.1. This local plan is promoting a sustainable pattern of development to meet the needs of the district. To help achieve this, national planning guidance promotes sustainable development in rural areas by seeking to locate housing where it will enhance or maintain the vitality of rural communities.

“Planning policies should identify opportunities for villages to grow and thrive especially where this will support local services. Where there are groups of smaller settlements, development in one village may support services in a village nearby” (paragraph 79 of the National Planning Policy Framework).

5.2. The West Suffolk Sustainable Settlements Study (2022) is a core piece of evidence to support the identification of those settlements in the district which are the most appropriate to deliver sustainable growth. The document also establishes a settlement hierarchy as set out in part one of this local plan.

5.3. The new West Suffolk settlement hierarchy contains six categories of place, with type A villages being the fourth tier of settlement. These villages have a more limited range of services and facilities than the higher tier local and key service centres but can still meet some of the day to day needs of their residents. For example, some of these villages may have a village shop but no health facility or other services you would find in other large settlements which people need. Some of these villages will also have opportunities for sustainable access to higher tier settlements which can help support their services and facilities.

5.4. Small scale housing allocations have been identified in type A villages, with allocations made at a site assessment level. This takes into account local constraints and opportunities for development. Settlement maps showing constraints and opportunities can be seen in the opportunity and constraints study (2022) which is evidence to support preferred site allocations in the local plan. Information on infrastructure can be seen in the draft infrastructure delivery plan (IDP) (2022) which sets out baseline data for each settlement.

5.5. There are a number of type A villages where no allocated sites have been identified. This is because the sites submitted to us are unsuitable, or because no sites have been identified. If you are aware of any sites in type A villages that might be suitable for development, please let us know by completing a ‘call for sites’ site submission form and sending it in with a site location plan by the close of consultation.

5.6. It is important to set broad parameters for the scale of growth within each category of settlement to ensure it is proportionate in scale to the settlement and where it sits in the hierarchy. While the number of dwellings allocated within a particular settlement will be dependent on infrastructure and environmental capacity, it is anticipated that for type A villages the indicative maximum scheme size is around 20 dwellings. Further detail on this is set out in part one of this plan. The final site areas and policy principles will be developed in response to both the comments received to this consultation and to the further evidence base work that will inform the final submission version of this plan.

5.7. Below is the summary table of proposed allocated sites in type A villages, followed by site location plans.

Type A village	New reference number	SHELAA and/or existing policy reference	Location	Site area hectares (ha)	Estimated dwelling capacity
Bardwell	5.01a	WS001	Land at School Lane	0.7 ha	15
Barton Mills	5.03a	WS234	Land east of Church Lane	0.4 ha	12
Chedburgh	5.04a	WS065 andRV17a	Queens Lane	0.6 ha	10
Chedburgh	5.04b	WS063	Land west of Queens Lane	1.5 ha	12
Fornham St Martin	5.06a	WS082	Land fronting The Street	0.4 ha	10
Freckenham	5.07a	WS085	Land at Fordham Road	0.6 ha	10
Honington and Sapiston	5.09a	WS1038	Land north of Troston Road	0.6 ha	12
Honington and Sapiston	5.09b	WS1063	Land south of Bardwell Road	0.6 ha	10
Horringer	5.10a	WS113	Lane between Glebe Close and Chevington Road	1 ha	10

Please note:  Freckenham is currently in the process of preparing a neighbourhood plan. The council will continue to work with the parish to ensure the plan is aligned with the local plan as far as possible.

5.8. The proposed allocations in the table above can be seen on the maps below as well as on the policies map and Find My Nearest.

Bardwell preferred options map - 5.01a land at School Lane

Barton Mills preferred options map - 5.03a land east of Church Lane

Chedburgh preferred options map - 5.04a Queens Lane and 5.04b land west of Queens Lane

Fornham St Martin preferred options map - 5.06a land fronting The Street

Freckenham preferred options map - 5.07a land at Fordham Road

Honington and Sapiston preferred options map – 5.09a land north of Troston Road and 5.09b land south of Bardwell Road

Horringer preferred options map - 5.10a lane between Glebe Close and Chevington Road