Are you and any surrounding neighbours able to object, itsounds very intrusive......

If this is the first you have ever heard of such a scheme then the neighbour is just trying to get 'outline' planning permission for the site, ie permission in principle for the scheme. The letter from the planning department is to advise you of this and for you to voice any concerns that you might have. Obviously you want to object to the idea but you need to make your objections known to the council. You could try asking the Parish Council for their backing as well. They will have been invited to comment on the application and their voice will carry more weight than that of an individual.

Bulbaholic is right on with this. Find out when the meetings for discussion and or vote on this are and do attend them. Find out from your neighbours if they too recieved a letter and if they are of like mind make sure you all attend the meetings and if there are any requests for response in writing make sure that you all reply and send the letters registered return receipt requested. If there are restrictions on subdivision this probably won't go through but to make such a proposal does require a bit of money to be put up front so your neighbor thinks that there is a chance. On this one, don't stand back and let things happen!! I hope you make a full recovery and best regards.

There's a wonderful bit of UK custom and practice known as "caveat emptor" and as far as I recall you were aware of the possibility of a development when you bought your property because you've been asking GoYers for advice on planting for your ramparts for the past two years, so don't expect to get very far with any objections to the planning authority - they will know that the terrier searches alerted you to this development.
A conifer hedge can be subjected to the high hedge legislation at any time, no matter whether they were planted before or after the development of the neighbouring land.

Well, if that's the situation that Urbanite related, the seller of your home got out while the gettin was good and I hope you chewed him down in price because of the pending construction when you bought your home but personally I would not have done that since these situations will affect the resale value but here you are so why don't you put up a good fight.

I had not spotted that point but would still object to the design of the site if it is seriously going to affect yopur privacy. You might get the houses moved further away from your boundary.

I can't see, from your previous posts, how you will be "completely overlooked" - you've built a 750m long x 2m high rampart around your property, so unless your new neighbours spend all their time looking out of their upstairs windows you will be overlooked for the few seconds a day as they draw curtains.
I suspect that relatively few of the new properties will be "large executive" houses - Norfolk has far more need for affordable housing and I would imagine that the local authority would want to see probably half of this development as being "affordable".
I wouldn't think there was much chance of getting the new houses moved further away from your boundary - new housing developments don't generally have much space to play with once you start accounting for roads and services. New builds such as yours with over an acre of garden are very rare - there's no profit in them.

Thank you all for the advive, and yes I have the bank at the bottom but this is on the side now, the full length of the garden and yes I was aware that (common sense told me this) planning might be applied for but the neighbour told me for 3 properties! Application went in he was approached by a local building company (big money) who want to develope the site, but, retain the land beyond the bank which is presently outside the building line, green belt, not even brown. Went to parish lastnight who had been informed on friday so was not on the agenda and objections have to be in within 21 days, ie before the next parish meeting. My question was how can I get screening grown in case this ever gets past, I dont want a long boundary of 6ft panels which they tend to do on new builds I like the greenery and colour and the wildlife visiting (except those pesky rabbits) I would prefer evergreen as this would be private all year round. One of the new builds is set diagonally and actually comes to within 6ft of the fence so rthe view wouldnt be nice, if he still wanted his three as original I wouldn not object as all, but 23 in just over 2 acres is shall we say a little compact with a road and turning point, and small green area. Well whinging over will fight on but any help please with screening ideas would really be appreciated

If you are at the stage of formal objections then the application hasn't just appeared - there will almost certainly have been a number of meetings with the Parish Council to discover what housing is needed and there may well have been public meetings. You will be able to find out the truth by looking up the planning application on your planning authority's website.
23 dwellings in 2 acres (about 0.8 hectares) is low density - The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England advocate more than 40 per hectare to make efficient use of land - and to provide houses for the people who need them to be able to live and work in an area rather than 2nd homes for townies.

It hasnt just appeared but sadly our local council has a shortfall of housing what the goverment are demanding being built, it takes on average 3 weeks to get a non urgent appointment at the doctors and the schoolhas approx 25 vacancies, planning has already been approved for 200 properties, 22 properties 26 properties plus individual buildings and these are pushed through to meet government criteria, problem is there is no infrastructure to support the developments the land is brown belt, I purchased as one from the end of the village boundary building line expecting no development, hence the bank was a just in case as beyond this isbrown belt but this application is on green belt and the timing was such as the letter arrived without giving parish time to include it in the agenda and closing date before next parish council meeting.afterspeaking to anglian water today it appears the pump house is sewer only which means ALL surface water will be directed to my small ditch and drainage pond in my garden, which will flood it. When/if the take over the pumping station and the connect to
main drains the direct route will be through either mine or my
neighbours driveway which means we wouldnt be able to extend our properties!

Sorry, but your parish council WILL have known about this and will have been consulted and if they wanted to they could call an extra meeting of the PC in a matter of a few days.
Having to wait for non-urgent GP appointment is not exclusive to your village - there is a national shortage of GPs. But more patients may mean that your GP is able to take on a partner or a trainee and so improve the service. And the school has vacancies - therefore more children can be accommodated. Too many vacancies and the school may come under threat of closure - it's not unheard of. Do you still have a village pub, a village shop, a village post office - a lot of villages no longer have these because there aren't enough customers to support them. Are there houses for young people from the village to move to when they want to leave home - or do they have to carry on living with their parents or move out of the village?

Hi urbanite, yes we have 2 shops, a pub, apost office a takeaway, 2 garages, a haidressers a dog grooming parlour, car sales and yes the doctors could take on more but the surgery is a relatively new building and has no more space within, expand and there would be no parking which is essential as the only means of getting to the surgery from outlying villages is your own transpoŕt. Name me anywhere where there is accommodation for people tò carry on living where they were born it is exactly the same for cities with 1000's of properties! this entirely a different issue, the issue I was asking help with was how to protect my view/boundary with an evergreen border of plants giving me privacy, a natural 'fence', as the neighbour has a lovely high laurel hedge. I dont want 6ft panels I want somewhere for the birds to nest and the wildlife to forage and visit!

If you have an established hedge already then the developers are unlikely to remove it. Again, look at the planning application it will indicate what boundaries there are and will have an environmental impact report. In the event that the developers aren't going to plant a new hedge then, if you really want a home for wildlife, you could plant your own mixed native hedge - birch, beech, hazel, hawthorn etc. much better than an evergreen hedge.
Have you looked at the application yet?

Hi urbabite plans are very vague they just show a couple of trees even council have said this, dont really want native hedge as I have this the other side of the garden and now leaves are dropping it can be see through as you drive along the road so I assume this would be the same and I really dont want this, we have valuable classic cars and traìlers etc. I have placed conifers onlysix in large spaces on the natural side as I also have some lovely old trees so it isnt quite so open in the winter, and provide cover for the wildlife, Im sorry I want the best of both worlds, privacy and home for the wildlife, no doubt I will hear my new neighbours but I definetly dont want to see them