Work on new Norwich homes at former depot to begin next year

Bosses at Norwich City Council say the construction of the first phase of 67 homes at the former Mile Cross depot site is likely to begin in early 2026.

It comes after work to clear contamination from the site, off Mile Cross Road, was completed, with demolition of existing structures, including garages, having started this month.

The former Mile Cross depot, where homes are due to be built (Image: Denise Bradley)

Labour-controlled City Hall has confirmed preparatory work to pave the way for the homes to be built is due to start in the autumn, with the main construction work on homes beginning early next year.

A visualisation of how the new homes could look (Image: Norwich City Council / Feilden + Mawson)

The council first mooted the idea of building houses there, in 2017 and had set aside more than £41m for the project.

The city council's planning committee approved the plans for the first 67 homes in February last year.

The 10.5-acre site used to be the council’s City Works depot - where City Hall's fleet of vehicles and in-house workers were based.

It then became the Mile Cross Business Centre, home to about 30 small to medium-sized businesses, but they were served notice as the council looked to develop the site.

The buildings there were demolished in 2019.

Work to clear contamination from the former Mile Cross depot site has been completed (Image: Denise Bradley)

But the site was used to dispose of rubble after buildings in the city were bombed during the Baedeker Raids of 1942, so careful checks had to be carried out.

There has also been work to treat contaminated groundwater by removing pollutants or converting them into harmless products.

The council received almost £1m from the government to help pay for decontamination.

Labour county councillor Chrissie Rumsby (Image: Norfolk Labour Party)

At a recent meeting of Norfolk County Council, Chrissie Rumsby, Labour county councillor for Mile Cross, sought reassurances that measures would be taken to ensure construction traffic did not cause dangers on Mile Cross Road.

County Hall officers said the onus would be on the city council to ensure construction traffic is properly managed.

The city council confirmed a construction management plan will be in place for each development phase.

The land used to be the city council's City Works depot (Image: Keith Whitmore)

In November 2018, the city council revealed it was considering whether a new swimming pool could form part of the proposals, but that idea was scrapped.