5. The Rural Area

Aims and Objectives

5.1 To sustain and enhance rural communities while maintaining and where possible improving the rural environment.

5.2 To achieve this aim the key objectives are:

• a) to encourage appropriate rural diversification initiatives;
  b) to encourage the retention of, and where possible improvement to, shopping and service facilities in rural areas;
  c) to encourage business development and innovation;
  d) to support rural tourism and related activities; and
  e) to conserve and enhance the countryside.

5.3 The rural area is defined as everywhere in the borough outside of the urban edge of Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill as defined on the Proposals Map. This includes:

• the Rural Service Centres, as identified in Chapter 2. These are Barrow, Chedburgh, Clare, Ixworth, Stanton and Kedington;
• other villages with Housing Settlement Boundaries, as defined in Appendix A and on the Proposals Map; and
• the area designated as countryside on the Proposals Map, which includes the smaller villages and rural settlements that do not have a Housing Settlement Boundary.

5.4 The borough is predominantly rural and these rural areas are an integral part of its character. Rural St Edmundsbury has the key qualities of attractive villages and large tracts of open countryside. However, similar to many parts of the country over the last decade or so, the rural areas of the borough have experienced considerable social, economic and environmental change and are under increasing pressure from development.

5.5 The countryside faces a period of major change and the changes in agriculture have necessitated an increased emphasis being given to the diversification of the rural economy. Affordability of housing continues to be a major concern within rural St Edmundsbury.

5.6 The Borough Council’s Rural Action Plan (2004) is committed to the preservation and enhancement of the social, economic and environmental well-being of rural St Edmundsbury. The close control of development in the rural areas remains a principal planning objective for several reasons. Widely dispersed development would:

• detract from the appearance and character of the countryside;
• increase reliance on the use of the car; and
• result in the loss or fragmentation of valuable farm land.

5.7 Whilst the policies in this chapter are specific to the rural areas of the borough, this chapter must be read in the context of the rest of the Local Plan as some land use proposals in the rural areas will also need to be assessed against relevant policies in other chapters. In addition, not all policies within this chapter will be relevant to all villages in the borough given that there are three different types of settlements, that is, (i) the Rural Service Centres; (ii) other villages that are not identified as Rural Service Centres but which have a Housing Settlement Boundary; and finally (iii) the other smaller rural settlements and villages that do not have a Housing Settlement Boundary.