A boarded-up former dementia care home in Norfolk could be about to get a new lease of life if plans to use the building for residential development get the go ahead.

South Norfolk Council has launched a public consultation on the future use of the Cygnet House site close to the council's offices in Swan Lane, Long Stratton, which used to be an NHS run care home for people with dementia until it closed in 2006.

No details have yet emerged as to what form the residential development and this will not be decided until the results of the consultation, which is due to end on April 16, are known.

However, in 2010, the council had previously consulted on plans to knock down the care home and build 80 new homes.

The council commissioned educational charity The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment to draw-up a concept for the area with the aim of submitting a formal planning application at the end of the year.

The vision was to build about 80 homes of varying size inspired by the historic buildings in Long Stratton.

The area would be criss-crossed with a mixture of streets and narrow lanes, including a road that runs diagonally from Swan Lane to South Norfolk House which would create a square where a memorial commemorating those that had died in Cygnet House could be built.

But the plans were never finalised and there had been no developments until the council launched the consultation on the latest proposal, which would include some development to create employment opportunities, on March 23.