Plan to build 9,500 homes takes step forward

The council needs to have its local plan signed off by the government within six months

A council is to proceed with a key document that sets out where nearly 9,500 homes can be built over the next 20 years.

North Norfolk District Council is under pressure to get its new local plan, which sets out the location of where new developments can take place, approved by government officials in just six months.

The government's Planning Inspectorate – which presides over planning matters – has already told the council it needed to accommodate an extra 1,500 homes to meet increased targets for house building.

At a cabinet meeting this week, the ruling Liberal Democrats voted to proceed with the new action plan, which will now go out to public consultation.

There are plans to build 2,480 homes in North Walsham

The number of homes earmarked for villages in the district has doubled from 452 to 873 to fulfil the target, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Andrew Brown, cabinet member for planning, warned that failing to do so would leave the council with a £2.5m black hole, due to needing to find the money to create a new local plan.

However, he doubted they would be able to achieve the new targets.

"It is a sobering statistic that over a 24-year period between 2000 to 2024, we managed on average to build just under 400 homes per year, now we need to build 573," Brown said.

"I will let you draw your own conclusions as to whether this is achievable."

Lucy Shires, a North Walsham Lib Dem councillor and cabinet member for finance, highlighted that plans to build 2,480 homes in the town were causing concerns about road safety.

But she said the council was being "forced into a position where we have little choice".

Shires urged people to share their views in the forthcoming consultation, in order to have their opinions presented to the Planning Inspectorate.

Once approved by government the local plan would be formally adopted by the council.