Plans for 56 homes approved for allotment site

Allotment holders were told to leave the site off New Sporle Road in 2007

Plans have been approved for 56 homes to be built on a former allotment site after holders were told to quit 17 years ago.

ILG and Flagship Group want to develop a site off New Sporle Road in Swaffham, Norfolk, which will be called Day's Field.

Swaffham Town Council, which previously owned the land, ordered allotment holders to leave in 2007 to allow it to be used for housing but it has taken years to reach this stage.

However, Breckland Council has now approved an application.

The site is on the north-eastern edge of Swaffham, bordered by New Sporle Road and Tumbler Hill, with the A47 to the north

Proposals had previously been brought forward by Swaffham Town Council but were ultimately scrapped amid a backlash over plans to borrow millions of pounds for the scheme, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Many locals opposed the authority’s plans to apply for a £6m cash injection from the Public Works Loan Board to develop the site and the bid was ultimately scrapped.

The new project is split into two phases and will see a total of 51 affordable dwellings and five bungalows built.

However, this latest proposal also met with resistance as dozens of people filed complaints with Breckland Council about the impact of the proposed development.

Susan Jones, a local resident, said: "There have been so many developments in the last five years within Swaffham's boundaries and all without a thought for the necessary infrastructure – schools, doctors, dentists.

"Swaffham is in danger of becoming a commuter town putting pressure on the surrounding roads. We do not need yet another badly planned housing estate."

The fields surrounding New Sporle Road have already been earmarked for a further 150 new homes, which were approved by Breckland Council several months ago.