Swaffham industrial site plans to be debated by Norfolk County Council and Padley Property

Developers and a Norfolk council are due to face government officials for a showdown over plans to create an industrial site on land off the A47.

A public inquiry is to be held late this year to determine the fate of the scheme in Swaffham.

Padley Property want to build the commercial facility on land south of the A47.

It has proposed a hybrid site with a mixture of light industrial, storage and trade counter premises.

But its plans led to continued disagreements with Norfolk County Council’s flooding experts, who worried the drainage system proposed would lead to flooding elsewhere.

In January, councillors failed to come to a decision on the project and it was deferred to allow the two parties to work together to find a conclusion.

However, the county council has continued to insist the developer has not demonstrated the site will avoid causing flooding issues.

Due to a decision not being made in the allocated timeframe, Padley Property has now appealed to the Planning Inspectorate – the government department which presides over planning matters.

According to its appeal statement, the firm believes the county council “has, and continues to act, wholly unreasonably” - and that this has contributed to a delayed decision.

“[Breckland Council] has been held hostage to the dilatory and uncooperative behaviour of the lead flood authority,” it adds.

The scheme has been backed by the local council, which hopes it will provide much-needed employment and economic opportunities for Swaffham – a town which suffers from a lack of jobs.

It received no other objections apart from those related to flooding concerns.

Representatives from Padley Property and Norfolk County Council will face each other in three months time in a bid to persuade the inspector to approve or refuse the application.

It will be held at Elizabeth House in Dereham – Breckland Council’s offices – on November 20 from 10am.