A huge wastewater plant which would enable 3,500 homes to be built on the edge of Norwich could get the go-ahead next week.
Stretton Beeston wants to construct the 4.6-acre facility to take and treat wastewater produced by people living at its planned Beeston Park development.
Norfolk county councillors are due to decide next Wednesday (May 7) whether or not to grant permission for the scheme, in fields north of the Norwich Northern Distributor Road.
Councillors had been due to make a decision on the scheme in March, but the late submission of an ecological report into the impact of the scheme on ancient woodland led County Hall officers to ask the committee to defer the decision.
That report has now been produced and officers have not changed the original recommendation, that councillors approve the plans.
The huge Beeston Park housing scheme, north of Sprowston and Old Catton, will be one of the biggest developments in Norfolk with up to 3,520 homes built on 600 acres of land.
However, much like other housing schemes in the county, the development has been caught up in a limbo triggered by a nutrient neutrality directive designed to protect waterways from pollution.
READ MORE: How two words left Norfolk's plans for thousands of homes in limbo
That directive means developers have to put in measures so waterways are not polluted by phosphate and nutrient run-offs from housing - for instance, in wastewater.
To fulfil this directive, Stretton Beeston applied to Norfolk County Council to build the wastewater treatment works, linked to wetland on the border of Dobbs' Beck.
Broadland District Council has already granted permission for that wetland, where the treated effluent from the new wastewater treatment works - if it goes ahead - will be discharged.
The recommendation for approval comes despite objections, including from Rackheath Community Council. It raised concerns about smells, flooding and pests such as mosquitoes and rats.
Officers stated: "Subject to the implementation of recommended conditions, it is concluded, on balance, that the proposed development would be acceptable and would be in accordance with the policies contained within the development plan, and no material considerations sufficient to outweigh the plan have been identified."
Beeston Park has been in development since 2009. Outline planning permission was granted in 2013, but progress stalled until Stretton Beeston Limited and Quinn Estates took over in 2023.
Share