Just a note for all those who have been considering moving to Spooner Row because of it's apparent close proximity to Norwich. Google Maps suggests a journey time of 23min by car, which is completely ridiculous. Although Spooner Row has been classified as a Service Village, the infrastructure to accommodate such a grand idea is simply not in place for hard working commuters. There has been a considerable increase in traffic on the A11 in recent years due to the dualling of the A11 in Thetford, which has meant the bottleneck has simply moved from Thetford to the Thickthorn roundabout, which is the roundabout at the end of the A11 on the outskirts of Norwich. If you will need to get into Norwich before 9.00am for work on a weekday it can regularly take over an hour to get into the centre of Norwich. Even the Park and Ride by the Thickthorn roundabout gets held up badly due to congestion. Remember also that the train in Spooner Row is effectively useless for commuting to Norwich. You can get a train to get you into Norwich station in the morning but the last train that stops at Spooner Row is at 16:50. You may park at Wymondham station car park, but this has security problems as it is a quiet area and it will cost you of course!
I have recently moved here and work in Norwich. I am happy to leave a bit earlier and drive in and also use the train from Wymondham at least twice a week. It's all about compromise really and I would rather live here and face the slight travelling time it doesn't bother me at all. Its really down to preference if you want a super speedy journey then no spooner row is not ideal. From talking to people the trains have hardly ever stopped perhaps with the increasing population in this village a case could be put forward..
Surely, any train that passes can potentially stop, so why don’t they ?
Spooner Row is classed as halt but passing trains have not halted here for years, we've tried it and they won't stop. It just makes Spooner Row sound like it provides a service, but doesn't.
We are getting an increase in population in Spooner Row without any improvements to the train service (or any other part of the transport infrastructure come to that). I remember when the Alston development for Bunwell Rd and Chapel Rd held an open day in the village hall and spoke about all the wonderful things that would be accompanying these developments (they didn't materialise). They told us they were in negotiations with the train service provider to increase the service. Several of us followed this up and spoke with the train service provider who said they knew nothing about it and concluded it wouldn't happen anyway.
What are the plans for Wymondham to increase its car park capacity for commuters to drive to Wymondham and park near the station every day? None I expect.
I agree that Thickthorn roundabout wastes so much time when queuing in traffic to travel to and from work in Norwich. The fact that Spooner Row is officially allocated as a Norwich Service Village is in reality, a total misnomer. Its just not working, Service villages would be better suited to be closer to Norwich. As for the stupid term of a Technology Corridor with Cambridge that we are supposed to be on (the A11), this is a red-herring. Everyone knows that Cambridge's strong link in this respect is with London.
-- Edited by webstation on Monday 29th of January 2018 05:12:33 PM
One of the deciding factors when we moved to Spooner Row over 30 years ago was the fact that there was a good rail link with Norwich & Cambridge. Also a bus service, shop & mobile shop.
The train service was the first to be ruined, despite many of the villagers complaining. (I still have the newspaper cuttings) Then the bus service; the shop was bought by ..??!!.. who ran it down so that it was no longer viable, and then got permission to close it & build several houses on the same piece of land.
I think the nice man with the mobile shop retired early.
This used to be a lovely village, with a darts team, 2 quiz teams & a snooker team, all centered at the Pub & doing very well. We also had a very good cricket team.
How things have changed!, not really, in my opinion, for the better.
If you want a great quiz to go to then the one coming up on the 3rd March in the village hall is well worth attending. See the seperate post for details.
The main deciding factors when we moved to Spooner Row was that it was a rural village with open fields and little traffic trundling through its centre. The rail service was already poor, there was no shop or bus service, but we were prepared to sacrifice this lack of services and facilities for a more rural lifestyle. Now we are becoming urbanised yet the lack of facilities and infrastructure remains. This is not a sustainable situation with the increased house building. The authorities working with developers are ruining this quiet village.
The surrounding villages close by are not under the same developmental pressure and hassle. More houses in Spooner Row will bring in extra traffic and pollution, for to live here means you have no choice but to drive cars to get anywhere. This just adds to the traffic congestion problems, especially when driving to and from work. New developments need to go where there are sound public transport systems in place to support commuting. It is not rocket science!
The train virtually never stops and is impractical for commuting if you have a full-time job.
There is no bus service in the village and you'll need to negotiate an HGV route without a pavement and two roundabouts to get to the bus stop in Suton.
Ignore the 'up to 17Mb broadband' reported on Rightmove, it's about 1.3Mb at best.
I certainly wouldn't discourage people living here, I would rather live here than Wymondham or Attleborough!
I agree with previous posts, you make sacrifices and to some people trains and broadband are not the be all and end all thankfully. There is more to life!
All this line of posts does is demonstrates the kind of small minded people you will have to live along side. You have to be quite special to think that random anonymous posts about broadband speed and the fabled HGV route will have any effect on a purchase, all it does is make you look like a fool. Stop it, you are embarrassing yourself (and us)
Small minded? No, just concerned about new residents, who are most welcome, but need to be made aware of the facts. 'Fabled' HGV route? Ask anyone in the village about the chaos with huge articulated lorries that pass through the village at all times of the day and night along Station Road and Bunwell Road (just look at the state of the roads) and the chaos that is apparent at school times around Station Road (and the new private road off Station Road) with parents/children negotiating around lorries, coaches and cars in the muddy road's as there are no pavements. Oh yes, and the constant tail backs at teh level crossing for passing trains that hardly ever stop int he village. You carry on and stick your head in the sand, I'm just doing my bit as a good community member and want to help others. Don't get me on the subject about Broadband - note it says on Rightmove "Up to 17Mb" What a con - 1.3Mb is up to 17Mb, but we're still using copper telephone lines on poles that come down in strong winds!! Maybe now Soutrh Norfolk Council have agreed that we can be an independent Parish we can do something to improve life in our village.
I think if you're going to pay anything like £800,000 for a house that took less than a year to build you should expect a decent broadband connection and more for your money!
Bit like 'sales' in the shops. Houses are marketed at ridiculously high values for the time required by law, just so they can say there are massive reductions later on to get the punters in!
The new houses in the village are a complete rip off and don't be afraid to ask for a big discount - one sold for £525,000. All this info is in the public domain and you can find it easily.
Which area / development did a house sell for £525,000? have a lot of the new ones at The Ridings sold as there are a lot of sold signs..
Thanks
I spoke to the estate agent for the ones opposite the school and he said most were under offer, just awaiting completion which I took to be a positive sign. I am not sure about the ones on Bunwell road. I don't think £525k is a bad price for one of those houses, especially compared to the ones for sale in Wymondham at the moment. Some are bigger than others so the asking prices are all different, so that may not have been a big discount. I had a little nose around some of the empty ones a week or so ago, the spec and build quality looks pretty good for a new house, certainly better than some places I have looked at recently. Good sized rooms and plots, and looks well finished (new houses aren't for everyone I accept). I suppose if you think it is a 'rip off' then you should consider yourself lucky that no one is forcing you to buy one, perhaps you could drop that into conversation with the new owner when you are invited round for ****tails!
