A council wants your thoughts on where more than 1,000 homes should be built in small Norfolk villages.

South Norfolk Council will be holding an eight-week consultation for its village clusters housing allocation plan (VCHAP).

In total, the council wants to build 1,200 homes between now and 2038, as part of the Greater Norwich Local Plan (GNLP), which sets out home building policies across Broadland, Norwich and South Norfolk.

"We need to plan for those people living here tomorrow - not everyone wants to be living in the city or close to the city,” said John Fuller at a meeting of the SNC cabinet on Tuesday.

“Many people want to live in the countryside or villages for a variety of reasons.

“The village clusters plan recognises that as part of balance.”

Around 450 sites have been considered for the VCHAP, with 66 identified as preferred and a further 24 on the shortlist of alternatives.

While much of the GNLP focuses on development in built-up areas around Norwich, the VCHAP looks to small villages typically for only 12- 25 houses.

Mr Fuller said around 90pc of the homes in the GNLP are in or close to Norwich, but some need to be in villages.

“That’s important, local builders are going to have a better shot at these, we can’t have only developments geared up for big monopoly house builders,” he said.

Alongside attracting smaller, local developers, Mr Fuller said these developments were ideal for people who wanted to be part of the community, keeping shops and pubs open, with primary schools at the centre.

Cabinet members stressed that the plans were not a “done deal” and that consultation would be used to identify the right sites.

Kay Mason-Billig said: “We have got to think about the reasons why we did this in the first place.

“Things have changed a lot in the two years with Covid, people seem to appreciate more their home space.

“We don’t want dormant villages where people leave in the morning, lock the door and the place becomes quiet with no life in it.

“This is an opportunity for us to revitalise the spaces, bring more people in and have more services there.”

Cabinet agreed for the consultation to go ahead, which is due to start on Monday, June 7.

For a list of parishes covered by the local plan visit the South Norfolk Website