Controversial plan for 180 homes takes step forward

Controversial plans for 180 new homes, a new school and country park on the outskirts of a city have taken a major step forward.

The development in Caistor St Edmund, near Norwich, has been in the pipeline for more than three years and prompted strong opposition from locals.

However, the dropping of a key objection from Norfolk County Council has made it more likely it will now get the green light.

Villagers opposed to the development have criticised the U-turn as "bizarre" and are lodging fresh appeals with South Norfolk Council to take account of their concerns.

The development included a 420-place primary school, a new village hall and a 63-acre country park – roughly equivalent to 126 football pitches.

Some locals believed the scheme, which would be built on land to the north of Caistor Lane, will increase strain on local services and heap pressure on roads in the area.

The highways department at Norfolk County Council had previously shared this view and repeatedly objected to the development stating it would "likely give rise to conditions detrimental to highway safety".

The dropping of this objection after receiving more information from the developers in recent months, including details about emergency access to the site, has come as a huge shock to some villagers.

They believed the new evidence still does not demonstrate Caistor Lane could sustain huge increases in traffic.

The fresh objections lodged with South Norfolk Council claimed "fundamental risks" to public safety had been overlooked and urged highways officials at County Hall to revisit the decision.

South Norfolk Council has received more than 200 official objections from local people over the course of the last few years and an action group has been formed in opposition to the highly controversial development.

The application remains under consideration by South Norfolk Council's planning department.

Caistor contains the remains of the Roman market town of Venta Icenorum, although the proposed development is at the opposite end of the village, on land north of Caistor Lane close to Framingham Earl and Arminghall.

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.