Two major housing developments in Stoke Ferry which stoked anger in community approved
Two major housing developments that sparked protests in a rural village have been given the final go-ahead.
West Norfolk Council’s planning committee members approved the schemes in Stoke Ferry, which will create 92 homes across two sites, increasing the population of the village by around 25%.
One of the developments is being built on a brownfield site off Lynn Road that was formerly a mill run by 2Agriculture – a feed company – consisting of 50 market-value properties and 12 affordable homes.
Thirty homes will be constructed on Furlong Drive – six of which will be affordable.
The project had previously stoked anger in the community, which protested against developer Amber Rei’s plans to build on a playing field as part of the proposal and called on 2Agriculture to renovate rundown properties it owns around the village.
Outline planning permission had previously been granted in 2019 for both schemes but this week, members agreed to approve the design and layout.
There were concerns from one councillor, Pallavi Devulapall, that more could be done to improve cyclist and pedestrian access to the Lynn Road site.
Tom Ryves worried the Furlong Drive development did not adequately conform to ‘pepper-potting’ policies which aim to build affordable housing units ‘sprinkled’ like pepper among private homeowners.
However, officers dismissed these complaints and confirmed that the developments conformed to the requirements for new housing set out by the council.
The two developments will significantly expand the size of the village, which only had 358 households and a population of 1,020 at the 2011 census.
Earlier this year, a 29 affordable homes scheme to be built by developer Freebridge were also approved.
Stoke Ferry is considered a key ‘rural service centre’ in west Norfolk and is earmarked for considerable growth in the coming years.