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Long Stratton is a civil parish in South Norfolk, in the East of England, UK. It consists of two villages; the larger, Stratton St. Mary, is to the south, and the other, Stratton St. Michael, is to the north. It is home to a substantial population of 3,701 (Census 2001).

Location

The village is situated half-way between the regional capital, Norwich and the market town of Diss; along the Roman built road, the A140 (once know as Pye Street) - which runs from Cromer (North Norfolk) to Ipswich (Suffolk).

Long Stratton borders five other parishes: Tharston and Hapton, Tasburgh, Morning Thorpe, Pulham Market, Wacton.

One of the ancient parishes that make up the modern village of Long Stratton was served by St Michael's church, whose rector from 1779 to 1823, Francis Wickham Swanton, was an Oxford contemporary of the celebrated Parson James Woodforde.

According to the 2001 United Kingdom Census, Long Stratton CP is home to 3,701 people, who reside in a total of 1,598 dwellings, and have a mean age of 38.63. The statistics further confirm that Long Stratton is used as a commuter village, with the average employed person traveling 17.25 miles to their place of work.

There has been cause for the building of a bypass around Long Stratton for over 60 years. Builders of the new "Churchfields" housing estate to the east of the village proposed to build a bypass as part of the submission for planning permission in the mid-1990's, though this was rejected by the Highways Agency on the grounds that the planned road was not of a sufficiently high standard to redesignate it as part of the main A140 Trunk Road.

2006 was supposed to bring about the construction of the new bypass by Norfolk County Council, who had assumed responsibility for the A140 from the Highways Agency in 2001.

There was considerable opposition to the bypass on either side of the A140, (by residents of the village of Tharston to the west, and those of the hamlet of Wood Green Common to the east. Eventually, it was decided that a bypass to the east would have less environmental impact.

The total cost of the three miles stretch of dual carriageway, with a roundabout at either end, was estimated to be £21.8m (2004) - compared to earlier estimates of £6m to £16m (2002).

Following the May 2005 elections, the planning suffered a one year delay, when changes to the planning permission laws meant that the application for the permission of the bypass had to be resubmitted.

Subsequent changes to the way in which local road building projects are prioritised and funded have led to a decision to suspend construction of the bypass until 2016 at the earliest, despite Norfolk County Council already having spent over £1m on site preparation & legal fees. This led local resident Jason Bunn to establish an online petition on the Prime Minister's website calling for the funding to be made available immediately. Local MP Richard Bacon also joined in the campaign, lobbying Transport Secretary Alistair Darling and Roads Minister Stephen Ladyman for a change in the decision.

The village accommodates three schools first known as: Long Stratton First School, St. Mary's Middle School, and Long Stratton High School. However, in September 2006, 'Long Stratton first school' became 'Long Stratton infant school' and 'St. Mary's middle school' became 'St. Mary's church of England junior school'.