Norwich Livestock Market could be relocated to Easton under plans for thousands of homes and new employment opportunities to the south of the city.

Proposals for around 9,000 new houses took a fresh step forward yesterday when South Norfolk Council revealed its preferred sites for development.

Officials at the district council said they had trimmed down 1,500 potential sites put forward by landowners, parish councils and developers to produce a list of 150 brownfield and greenfield sites for meeting the authority's quota set down by the Greater Norwich Development Partnership's Joint Core Strategy.

The announcement comes ahead of a new eight week public consultation on the Local Development Plan that is set to start at the end of the summer before being assessed by a planning inspector in 2013.

Under the plans, which will be discussed by South Norfolk Council cabinet on June 11, is a scheme to build 900 new homes to the south and east of Easton and to create a new village centre including village hall, shops and primary school.

A 40ha site to the west of Easton has also been earmarked for a Norfolk food and farming hub to also include the potential relocation of Norwich Livestock Market.

Other big potential housing allocations include 1,226 new homes across four sites in Hethersett. However, the local authority has not included all of the land north of the village, which is the subject of a 1,196 home application by Hethersett Land Ltd.

South Norfolk Council has also earmarked 552 new homes for Poringland and Framingham Earl, 500 for Costessey and 170 in Mulbarton.

John Fuller, leader of South Norfolk Council, said the process of identifying development locations had taken longer because 1,500 different sites had been put forward.

'Up until now, the Local Plan has been ifs, buts and maybes. Today we have got a lot more concrete.

'We have been over subscribed 15 times over and this will give people reassurances. People have been concerned about land that has been put up for development and most of their concerns have been allayed.

'The Local Plan process has gone on longer and is more complex than we expected. We have had to look where to allocate 9,000 homes across the district over the next 20 to 30 years and focused on the market towns and the larger villages for social sustainability and keep villages as living places,' he said.

South Norfolk Council has also identified sites for new jobs including at Longwater in Costessey, Hethel near Wymondham and a science park at Colney.

Proposals have also been made for a new link road on the B1113 and A140 junction near Tesco Harford Bridge to relieve traffic congestion.

However, Peter Leigh, chairman of Mulbarton Parish Council, said he was 'disappointed' after a site off Long Lane, which has received an application for 180 homes, has been identified as a preferred plot for 150 houses.

'We put forward alternative proposals for smaller infill developments in Mulbarton and democracy has been totally ignored. We always felt that it [Long Lane] was a done deal,' he said.

Site specifics for 2,200 new homes in Wymondham, 1,800 in Long Stratton, and 1,200 at Cringleford will be drawn up as part of individual area action plan documents.