Rackheath is a civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the English county of Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, and is roughly 6 miles (9.7 km) outside of Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

 City Centre.
It covers an area of 7.52 km² (2.9 sq mi) and had a population of 1,551 in 625 households as of the 2001 census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

.
For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district

Non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...

 of Broadland

Broadland

Broadland is a local government district in Norfolk, England, named after the Norfolk Broads. Its council is based in Thorpe St Andrew, which is a suburb of the City of Norwich.-History:The district was formed on April 1, 1974 by the merger of St...

. It is also the site of a proposed new eco-town

Eco-towns (UK)

Eco-towns are a government-sponsored programme of new towns to be built in England, which are intended to achieve exemplary standards of sustainability.In 2007, the...

.
The A1151 Norwich to Wroxham Road runs through the parish dividing it into two with a small settlement near the Church to the north and the much larger settlement of New Rackheath to the south. Part of the former Rackheath airfield is now Rackheath Industrial Estate.

Rackheath Eco Town

During 2008, proposals were made for a very controversial eco-town, to contain over 5100 homes, to be built in Rackheath and Salhouse

Salhouse

Salhouse is a village and civil parish within The Broads National Park in the English county of Norfolk. It lies south of the River Bure and Salhouse Broad, about north-east of Norwich....

 on farmland formerly the site of the Second World War RAF Rackheath

RAF Rackheath

RAF Rackheath is a former World War II RAF station airfield in England . The field is located 5 miles NE of Norwich in Norfolk between Rackheath and Salhouse.-USAAF use:...

 airfield. The proposals have attracted much criticism, mainly because it is to be built on a greenfield

Greenfield land

Greenfield land is a term used to describe undeveloped land in a city or rural area either used for agriculture, landscape design, or left to naturally evolve...

 site, within a mile of The Broads

The Broads

The Broads are a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Broads, and some surrounding land were constituted as a special area with a level of protection similar to a UK National Park by The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Act of 1988...

 National Park. A local group calling themselves SNUB

SNUB

SNUB or Stop Norwich UrBanisation is a non-profit organisation based around Norwich, United Kingdom, whose aim is to stop the urbanisation of Norwich and its surrounding villages, such as Rackheath, Salhouse, Wroxham and Postwick....

, or Stop Norwich UrBanisation, has been set up to try and fight these proposals.