A councillor has urged his authority to ensure that a proposed new suburb of King’s Lynn be built to the highest possible environmental standards.

Conservative Peter Gidney told West Norfolk Borough Council members it was vital that the planned development of up to 4,000 homes at West Winch was fit for the future,

Mr Gidney, who represents West Winch on the council, urged the authority to adopt a more active approach to ensuring that development across the borough is built sustainably, rather than relying on nationally-imposed guidelines. 

“We’ve got to reach carbon zero by 2050, so it’s no good doing it incrementally, we should go for the maximum level of building regulation [as soon as possible],” he said. 

The panel’s Tory chair, Judith Collingham, agreed: “What I’d like to see, is somehow, planning regulations and building regulations become more morphed together. 

“Whatever the detail is… we can’t just have this as an aspiration. This has to go into law.” 

She said the council’s cabinet member for the environment, Paul Kunes, would be made aware of the panel’s discussion.