4.3.1. Cavendish is a medium sized village with a population of 999 (2019 mid-year estimate), located approximately 16 kilometres from Haverhill. It has a reasonable range of services and facilities including a primary school, shops and leisure facilities.

Constraints and opportunities

• Cavendish is located on the A1092 which provides good road links for Sudbury to the east and Haverhill to the west.
• There is at least an hourly bus service from 9am (at the latest) to 5pm (at the earliest).
• The conservation area which covers much of the village must be considered when appraising opportunities for new development, particularly to the north and west in order to protect its setting and views into and from the conservation area to the countryside.
• Flood risk areas cover much of the central and southern parts of the village which will influence the possible locations for growth.
• There are no national or habitat designations in close proximity to the village.
• The scale of growth will be dependent on local environmental and infrastructure capacity and will need to respect the landscape setting and attractive character of Cavendish.
• Cavendish is situated in the River Stour valley, reflected in the land that rises to the north and south of the village boundary. Any new development will need to be sensitive to the surrounding landscape characteristics.
• Cavendish lies within the rich archaeological landscape of the Stour Valley as recorded in the county historic environment record (HER), and prehistoric and Roman sites are recorded within the vicinity of this historic settlement.

Preferred allocation

4.3.2. One site is proposed as a preferred site for residential development in Cavendish providing an indicative capacity of 10 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 identified opportunity areas for growth in the village can be seen in the opportunity and constraints study (2022) produced as evidence to support this plan. Further information on how housing numbers have been derived can be seen in part one of the local plan.

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

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

Cavendish settlement constraints map

Cavendish preferred allocations map