Hopes of 1,000 new homes on a Bowthorpe site, which has been earmarked for housing since 1974, have been revived by the city council.

A new planning application, seven years after the last set of plans were submitted, has been put in by the council who want to develop the site along with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

Developers have scaled down their ambitions for Three Score since the last application, cutting the number of new homes by 200 and building a smaller village centre.

Along with up to 1,000 homes, the outline plans include a care home and parks, and space for 1,500 cars and 2,000 bicycles.

Bert Bremner, cabinet member for planning at Norwich City Council, said: 'We cannot afford to stand still. We have to plan ahead. The development will not have an instant impact but it is really positive for the city.'

The Labour councillor dismissed fears that Three Score would become a Queen's Hills-type situation where developers went into administration leading to a long legal battle to get community facilities.

'This development will fit into infrastructure,' he said. 'This is surrounded by facilities already. It will be surrounded by connections to the university, hospital and Norwich Research Park.'

Mr Bremner said the plans included fewer flats and more homes, as the housing market had changed since 2005.

The development will be built in stages with the speed of building depending on demand and the health of the economy.

There will also be fewer community facilities, as a consultation in Bowthorpe found that the area was well-served with community centres.

Conservative county councillor for Bowthorpe Paul Wells said: 'The inclusion of green space is very positive. It is most important now to make sure the community expresses its views and concerns to the planning application. It is them who will be living with this development.'

Taylor Wimpey has been selected as the preferred bidder to build the first 180 homes at the site, with the application going before Norwich City Council's planning committee before the end of August.

The site was first earmarked for housing in 1974 and more recently has been hampered by delays.

A previous plan to sell the site to Persimmon fell through as the housing market collapsed, and the council decided to develop the site itself, along with its new partners at the HCA.

The partnership was the first of its kind in the country and resulted in �8m of HCA investment in the city – �5.5m of which has been spent on regeneration projects including the restoration of the War Memorial.

The remaining �2.5m was originally intended to kick-start the Bowthorpe development.

Do you have a story about Bowthorpe for the Evening News? Contact reporter Tom Bristow on 01603 772313 or email tom.bristow@archant.co.uk