South Norfolk has been put forward as a possible location for a new town to be built

South Norfolk has been put forward as a possible location for a complete new town to be built.

South Norfolk Council’s leader Daniel Elmer said the authority had informed Government officials that it may be prepared to consider a new town in the district, subject to conditions.

The move follows Labour’s pledge to begin work on creating new towns before the next general election, as part its house building programme.

It has called for expressions of interest in a bid to build 1.5 million extra homes in England by 2029, with new towns of at least 10,000 properties contributing towards that figure.

Cllr Elmer said: “We’ve sent them a two-page document saying that there is a world in which we would consider doing this.

“It’s not actually new, as it’s been in our planning documents, and in the public domain, for years. But we have now submitted an interest, adding that we would only consider doing so if certain conditions are met.

“These are that there is a degree of financial support from the Government to ensure it happens.

“Secondly, and most importantly, that it is in relation to the Government’s housing targets.

“We will only do this if the new town counts towards those targets. For us, it’s a trade-off between a new town and adding little suburbs on to places like Diss, for example, or other towns in south Norfolk.

“There are a number of different locations under consideration but I can’t say exact ones because there’s a degree of commercial confidentiality.”

The Government has said more than 100 locations have been suggested as potential sites across the UK.

It says most proposals are to extend existing towns or cities, alongside a smaller number of new, standalone settlements.

Each of these should include infrastructure, such as public transport and schools, alongside affordable housing, ministers have said.

Cllr Elmer said: “Ultimately, the Government is saying we’ve got to build. You can agree or disagree with them, but my personal view is that we do need to build new houses because we need to give people the opportunity to get on the housing ladder, build up capital and have a stake in society.

“I think the way the Government has gone about it is wrong, because I think what they’ve done is arbitrarily given rural areas more to consider, compared with places like London.

“Putting that aside, we’ve got a government that’s is pushing us to build more. What we have is a choice about how we do that.”

“If you create something from scratch, you can make sure that it has the schools, the doctors’ surgeries, the roads and everything a community needs from the very beginning. It’s an awful lot harder to add that kind of infrastructure at a later date.”

Under the current Greater Norwich Local Plan, 45,000 homes are due to be built by 2038.

The plan – drawn up by Greater Norwich, South Norfolk and Broadland councils – has been designed to cater for housing needs and employment across these districts. It is currently reviewed every five years.

David Hook, trustee at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “The 45,000 target is already set and I don’t see how there can be any trade off as the land is already allocated.

“Moreover, some 30,000 of those houses were carried over from the previous plan and haven’t been built. That target is already too big.

“I just don’t see any need for a new town, which, as far as I understand it, would be on top of the figure already agreed.”

Cllr Elmer said early ideas for a new town would be slightly less than 10,000 houses.

The Government has established a taskforce to examine options, following its request for interest from councils, housing developers and landowners.

The full list of sites put forward has not been revealed, but it is believed London, the South East, the South West and the East of England have proved the most popular.

The taskforce will identify specific locations, as well as funding options, by the summer, with a view to construction on the first sites beginning by the time of the next election.

Cllr Elmer said that, if the new town was to go ahead, it would not impact on taxpayers, with developers meeting the cost, on top of requested government support.

He said: “I’ve been cheered by the feedback so far. Most people are pragmatic that, if you’re going to build more houses, thinking about the best way to do that is a sensible approach.

“I think most people do agree with the principle that if you’re going to do something, do it right, and try and do it in one location, rather than trying to tack on hundreds of homes left, right and centre.”