3.4.1. Kedington is a large village located in the south of the district, approximately five kilometres north-east of Haverhill and has a population of 2,032 (2019 mid-year estimate). Kedington is designated as a key service centre, with a good range of services and facilities including a GP surgery, primary school, provision for early years education, a public house, library, shop and leisure facilities.

Constraints and opportunities

• Kedington lies within the rich archaeological landscape of the Stour Valley, as recorded in the county historic environment record (HER). Prehistoric sites are recorded to the north around the medieval church and hall.
• Additional growth could also provide opportunities to consolidate and enhance existing community services and facilities and active travel links to Haverhill.
• Large scale development would likely impact the character of the settlement. However, there is opportunity for small scale peripheral development within the village.
• There is at least an hourly bus service from 9am (at the latest) to 5pm (at the earliest).
• Kedington has vehicular access to the A143 through the B1061, with Mill Road and Hundon Road traversing the village. These roads are narrow in places, which can be difficult for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to navigate.
• There are no nature or habitat designations in close proximity to the village although the Risbridge Meadow and Stour around the Great Meadow are sites for diversity and wildlife. Development may provide opportunities to improve Kedington’s links to the natural environment.
• The Stour River also introduces flood risk areas through the centre of the village. There is an attractive green in the centre of the village which should be protected as a key asset to the village.
• Development on the rising land to the east of the settlement should be limited to maintain a coalescence and visual buffer between Kedington and Haverhill and to protect the rural character of Kedington.
• The landscape character assessment notes that the villages lie within the Upper Stour Valley character area.
• Kedington follows the topography of the River Stour Valley, which runs through the centre of the village north to south, with sloping land to the east and west with the valley crest obscuring views of the Haverhill.

Preferred allocations

3.4.2. Two sites are proposed as preferred sites for residential development in Kedington providing an indicative capacity of 90 dwellings in the plan period. This comprises one existing allocation with planning permission and one new site. 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 Further information on how housing numbers have been derived can be seen in part one of the local plan.

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

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

Kedington settlement constraints map

Kedington preferred allocations map