Plans which will pave the way for thousands of new homes in a Norfolk village are on the brink of being lodged.

Developers behind a masterplan for up to 4,000 homes in Rackheath - a village which currently has a population of around 2,000 - are gearing up to lodge planning permission for the first phase.

The Rackheath North Masterplan, for a site of more than 720 acres north of the village, was endorsed by Broadland District Council in 2018.Along with homes, the masterplan includes a secondary school, two primary schools, a health and social care facility, employment areas, community space and infrastructure.Agents acting for Rackheath’s Manor Farm, one of the developers, have told Broadland District Council they are close to submitting plans for the first phase of the scheme.They had asked the council for an opinion on whether an environmental impact assessment will need to be submitted with the forthcoming application.In those documents, agents GP Planning said Manor Farm was keen to develop the land it owns.They said a forthcoming planning application would include detailed planning applications for the first 300 or so homes and for infrastructure, such as roads. There would also be an outline planning application for development of more of the land.The agents said: “The masterplan includes for a phased sequence of development, cognisant of the requirement to meet housing trajectory figures in the plan period. The phasing will see development commencing in the southern part of the site and progressing in a broadly northerly direction.“The allocated land is under the ownership of a number of different landowners. While the whole allocation will be developed, the initial and main application will relate to the land under the ownership of Manor Farm”Rackheath Parish Council had said it would expect an environmental impact assessment to be required.And the council has said it does think such an assessment is needed.They said the council “is of the opinion that the development would be likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size or location.”Rackheath was originally chosen to become one of the government’s eo-towns in 2009, but that halted following the withdrawal of the programme.