3.7.1. Stanton is a large village located 14 kilometres north-east of Bury St Edmunds and has a population of approximately 2,830 (2019 mid-year estimate). Stanton is made up of several elements including a smaller housing area to the north of the A143, the Shepherds Grove mobile home park to the east and the main part of the village immediately to the south of the A143. It has a good range of services and facilities which serve the resident population and surrounding settlements, including convenience food shop public house, health centre and GP surgery, a primary and pre-school, sport and leisure facilities and post The settlement has good transport links to Bury St Edmunds and Diss along the A143.

Constraints and opportunities

• Development potential to the north is fundamentally constrained by the boundary of the A143.
• There is least an hourly bus service from 9am (at the latest) to 5pm (at the earliest).
• The county historic environment record (HER) shows Roman sites amongst others within and around the settlement which has a medieval core.
• The smaller housing area to the north is partially covered by flood zone 3 due to the proximity of a tributary of the River Blackbourn.
• Development to the east of Stanton is limited by a county wildlife site. An appropriate buffer will be needed to protect the wildlife site from any development within this area.
• There are sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) designations to the south and south-west which form a constraint to development in these areas.
• Development potential around Stanton is limited by ancient woodland and its associated protective buffers to the east, south and south-west.
• There are areas of grade 2 agricultural land to the north, west, south and east of the settlement.
• Stanton Post Mill is a designated scheduled ancient monument (SAM) and listed building. Any potential growth in this location should be sensitive to the SAM designation and avoid a negative impact on its wider setting.
• The settlement of Stanton should be protected from coalescence with Upthorpe.

Preferred allocation

3.7.2. One new site is proposed as preferred site for residential development in Stanton providing an indicative capacity of 200 dwellings. The level of development proposed is influenced by the overall housing requirement and the settlement strategy. This determines 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. Further information on how housing numbers have been derived can be seen in part one of the local plan.

3.7.3. Further information on alternative site options considered but not taken forward can be seen in the table of omission sites in appendix B.

3.7.4. An existing preferred strategic employment site, as well as existing established employment areas have been identified for Stanton. Further details can be seen in chapter 7 employment. Each site is identified on the policies map.

3.7.5. Information on infrastructure can be seen in the draft infrastructure delivery plan (IDP) (2022) which sets out baseline data for each settlement.

Stanton settlement constraints map

Stanton preferred allocations map