Developers behind West Winch housing project granted extension

Developers behind a major housing development in West Norfolk, who have delayed by legal wrangles, have been granted another extension amid fears it was on the brink of collapse.

West Norfolk Council has confirmed negotiations are continuing to allow the flagship 1,100 home scheme in West Winch to go ahead just days before a deadline loomed.

Members had threatened to refuse permission for it to go ahead if Hopkins Homes, the firm behind the project, was not able to finalise its Section 106 agreements – the amount of cash generated through developments to improve infrastructure in the area – by this week.

However, another extension has been agreed after councillors held discussions in secret at a planning committee meeting discussing the future of the project.

Permission cannot be granted until this agreement is achieved.

The project is complicated by the requirement for a new road to be built, which will link the A47 with the A10.

The West Winch Access Road has yet to secure planning permission and the government has not confirmed how much it will give the £109.2m road.

Farmers and landowners had also complained they had received little correspondence from the developers, causing anxiety that the sale of their land to allow the scheme to go ahead would fall through.

Following the meeting, a West Norfolk Council spokesman said: “This is a huge project involving multiple landowners, complex infrastructure and a host of planning and funding considerations. It is not a surprise that it is taking time to work through the details.

“The extension will conclude the legal agreements that will enable permission to be issued. Good progress has already been made.”

The spokesman added three agreements are in the process of being completed, which include securing land for the road which has already been completed.

The other agreements, due to be finalised in the coming days will agree the wider strategic infrastructure and site-specific aspects of the scheme.

“We are ready and willing to issue planning permission once all three agreements have been signed and we are continuing to work proactively and positively with the landowners and developer to reach that point,” he said.

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