EAM Developments barred from selling homes at Wretton estate after failing to make Section 106 payments

A developer has been barred from selling homes it built at a site after failing to pay cash it agreed to provide to support the community.

EAM Developments has been issued an order from the High Court after it did not provide Section 106 contributions to West Norfolk Council for an eight-home scheme in Wretton.

The firm is yet to pay £118,000 to the authority – a sum it agreed to provide to support infrastructure and services such as schools and libraries.

This Section 106 agreement is a key factor for planning permission to be granted, and it helps support population growth generated through new housing.

The borough council obtained an interim High Court order last month, and it was subsequently renewed until a further hearing on July 21 at a hearing last week.

Some of the homes at the Wretton development are being marketed for £600,000.

Norfolk County Council is also locked in a dispute with EAM Developments over non-payment of money at a different development in Whittington.

This follows the firm attempting to back out of paying just £33,778 in Section 106 contributions for a 22-home scheme on the site of a former mill.

The county council has sent a letter threatening legal action if this is not paid.

EAM Developments claimed rising costs had meant the project was no longer viable with the agreed Section 106 cash.

Some of the properties, situated off the A134 between Downham and Thetford, have since gone on the market with an asking price in the region of £225,000-£325,000.

EAM Developments operates across West Norfolk and has been involved with numerous housing schemes in places like Methwold and Downham.

Martin Clark, the director, has been approached for comment.

Jim Moriarty, cabinet member for planning at the borough council, said: “Section 106 agreements are put in place on certain developments where planning permission would not otherwise be granted.

“They are an important part of the contributions that developers make to mitigate the impact of their plans and support affordable housing.

“Indirectly, failure to pay Section 106 contributions impacts on local people and we, as the local planning authority, have a duty to pursue non-payment.

“We are continuing to work with Mr Clark to resolve this matter.”

A county council spokesman said: “The funds due to Norfolk County Council to pay for local community infrastructure from the Whittington development remain unpaid, and efforts to recover these funds are ongoing.”

The firm has previously faced criticism for its management of building sites.

In 2021, the Health and Safety Executive issued the firm with an ‘improvement notice’ for a number of breaches at the site.

The HSE notice said there was a “failure to plan, manage and monitor works on site” to ensure that health and safety obligations were met.

Investigations in 2021 found examples of “multiple poor work at height practices, dry sweeping, and poor fire safety measures”.

EAM Developments subsequently made changes to comply with the improvement notice by September that year.

People living at the Whittington Old Mill development have also reported EAM Developments to the borough council’s environmental health team in the past year about bad smells and flies coming from the site’s biodigester plant.

Officers have been investigating the issues over the past 12 months, and EAM Developments has since made changes to the equipment.