Wymondham Allotments: One Comment, 8 Days to Object

Wymondham Town Council’s plan to replace the allotments it lost at Chapel Lane has eight days left in its public consultation, and one comment on the file.

The application, reference 2026/2374, would build a new allotment site on 3.3 hectares of farmland north of Tuttles Lane West. South Norfolk Council’s register records that 34 people and bodies were consulted, one comment has been received, and there are no objections. The single comment supports the scheme. It was submitted on 9 September by a member of the public.

Comments close on Tuesday 29 September 2026. The council’s internal target date for a decision is Thursday 3 December.

What the application would build

The proposal is described on the register as a “new allotment site to include access, fencing, gates, shed, container, and other associated structures to replace the loss of former site in Chapel Lane”.

• Site area: 33,000 square metres, or 3.3 hectares, on the application form. The town council’s own statement calls it about 8.35 acres.
• Provisionally around 190 plots, as we reported when the application was published. The general arrangement drawing says the exact arrangement and configuration of plot sizes is still subject to change.
• The site is in open countryside, and the register lists 21 planning constraints and 26 documents.

Chapel Lane was about 7.4 acres, so the replacement is bigger than the site it replaces.

The two council documents still disagree

Two of the town council’s own submissions give different figures for how many people lost a plot.

• The site selection statement, written by Wymondham Town Council, says the Chapel Lane site accommodated 131 plot holders and that 131 have been displaced.
• The planning justification statement, headed Wymondham Allotment Association, says 137 existing allotment holders have been displaced.

Both documents were submitted with the application on 13 August and both are still on the file. Neither has been corrected. The justification statement also records that about 60 households remain on the town council’s allotment waiting list.

The only consultee response so far

One statutory consultee has replied. Norfolk County Council, acting as Lead Local Flood Authority, wrote on 8 September under reference FW2026_0753 to say it “has no comments to make at this time”.

The letter then adds a caveat that is easy to miss:

In providing this substantive response, the LLFA is not currently able to carry out any review of the submitted documents or give any formal advice to the LPA for this consultation. As such, it should not be assumed that there is no impact associated with the proposed development in relation to surface water flood risk and drainage.

In other words, the flood authority has not looked at the drainage, and says so. That is not the same as a clean bill of health, and anyone reading the file as a list of green lights should read the second paragraph.

Why the town council is having to build this itself

The Chapel Lane land was leased from Anglian Water. The company reclaimed it for upgrades at the Wymondham Water Recycling Centre, required under the Water Industry National Environment Programme.

That decision was taken to Parliament. On 29 April 2025, the MP for South Norfolk, Ben Goldsborough, presented a petition signed by 391 residents of the constituency, asking the Commons to urge the Government to encourage Anglian Water to uphold its corporate responsibilities to the allotmenteers of Wymondham.

Presenting it, he told the House the decision “risks tearing up decades of community gardening, friendship and pride”, and that “this is not just about soil and sheds, it is about the social fabric of Wymondham”.

The Government answered in writing on 28 October 2025. The reply, from Emma Hardy, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, was a refusal to intervene:

Anglian Water is a private company and must comply with all legal requirements and planning rules, but is otherwise free do as it wishes with land it owns.

And then the sentence that explains the application now sitting on South Norfolk’s register:

Allotments are a matter for the local authority; therefore it is its responsibility to work with the company regarding the sale of the land, and to make alternative provision for allotment holders.

One reason the postbag may be thin

The register shows the neighbour and standard consultations both opened on 8 September, but the press advertisement did not run until 17 September. Its expiry date is 8 October, which is after the 29 September comment deadline.

Councils will normally still read a representation that arrives after the published deadline, provided the case officer has not written the report. Nobody should rely on that, but nor should anyone assume the file closes on the 29th.

No case officer was named on the application when we checked it this morning.

What it means for you

• If you want to support or object, do it by Tuesday 29 September. Comments go through the application page for reference 2026/2374 on the South Norfolk planning register, and they are published on the file.
• A comment counts more when there are almost none. With 34 consulted and one reply, a handful of letters either way would be the bulk of the public response the committee or officer sees.
• Say something specific. Generic support and generic objection both carry little weight. Access over a neighbouring field, drainage, the effect on open countryside and the plot allocation for displaced Chapel Lane holders are all live points on this file.
• The decision is not due until 3 December, so this will run through the autumn.

For more on planning in the town, see our Wymondham planning applications page.

Sources

• South Norfolk Council planning register, application 2026/2374, read on 21 September 2026, for the proposal wording, the receipt and validation dates, the pending status, the 26 documents and 21 constraints, and the comments tab figures of 34 consulted, one comment received, no objections and one in support.
• The same register’s dates tab, for the neighbour and standard consultation expiry of 29 September 2026, the press advertisement date of 17 September, the advertisement expiry of 8 October and the internal target date of 3 December 2026.
• Application form for 2026/2374, for the site area of 33,000 square metres.
• Wymondham Town Council, allotment site selection statement submitted with the application, for the 7.4 acres at Chapel Lane, the 131 plot holders, the 8.35-acre proposed site and the Anglian Water reclamation under the Water Industry National Environment Programme.
• Wymondham Allotment Association, planning justification statement submitted with the application, for the figure of 137 displaced allotment holders and the waiting list of about 60 households.
• Norfolk County Council Lead Local Flood Authority consultation response, reference FW2026_0753, dated 8 September 2026 and published on the application file, for the “no comments at this time” reply and the caveat quoted above.
• Hansard, Petition: Allotments in Wymondham, HC Deb 29 April 2025, c299, for the 391 signatures and the MP’s words on presenting the petition.
• Hansard, Allotments in Wymondham: Observations, 28 October 2025, Volume 774, for the petition text and the Government’s reply from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.