Time is running out for people to have their say on where thousands of new homes could be built in and around Norwich over the next two decades.

A 6,500 garden village at Silfield, near Wymondham, at least 3,900 homes in Honingham Thorpe, 600 homes at Horsford and 700 homes in Hellesdon, 500 homes in Little Melton the possible expansion of the University of East Anglia's Sainsbury Centre have all been mooted.

Eastern Daily Press: Shaun Vincent, chairman of the Greater Norwich Development Partnership. Pic: Archant Library.Shaun Vincent, chairman of the Greater Norwich Development Partnership. Pic: Archant Library. (Image: Submitted)

They have been put forward among just over 200 potential sites as Broadland, Norwich City and South Norfolk councils has draws up the next Greater Norwich Local Plan.

Local plans set out councils' planning policies and identify places where development is more likely to be acceptable.

Inclusion of a site in the plan does not mean it would be built. Schemes would still need to get planning permission.

But if proposals match what the site is allocated for in the plan, it is likely to mean a smoother ride through the planning process.

The 200 extra sites, which the public is being consulted on until Friday, December 14, follow more than 500 of other sites suggested for development earlier this year.

The plan seeks to establish where a further 7,200 homes, in addition to 35,000 already earmarked, could be built.

A potential garden village at Hethel was mooted as part of the earlier round.

Countryside campaigners said existing sites should be developed before allowing any new ones.

The Norfolk branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England said the creation of a whole new cohort of sites 'makes a mockery of the plan-led approach'.

They said until the joint core strategy - the current blueprint for development - runs it course in eight years time new housing permission should be limited to the sites allocated until that plan.

Shaun Vincent, chairman of the Greater Norwich Development Partnership, which represents all three councils, had urged people to take part in the consultation.

He said: 'The more people who contribute, the better the plan will reflect the views of people who live, work and run businesses here.'

The consultation is on the Greater Norwich Local Plan website.

There will be further consultation on the overall plan in 2020.