South Norfolk Village Housing Plan Rises to 1,256 Homes

The plan for new homes in South Norfolk’s villages has grown again. The inspector’s schedule of changes, published for consultation on 14 September, puts the total at 1,256 to 1,261 homes.

That is well clear of the 1,200 minimum the plan has to meet. In March the margin was a single home.

The extra homes come from making surviving sites bigger. Earsham and Pulham St Mary each gain 25, and Little Melton, about four miles north-east of Wymondham, gains ten. Residents have until 5pm on Monday 26 October to comment.

How the numbers moved

When we reported the inspector’s cuts on 7 September, the only published figures were in his post-hearings letter of 23 March. He had deleted 11 sites. His table put the homes on new allocations at 991, and the plan’s total at 1,201.

That 1,201 only passed the target because he counted about 34 homes from widened settlement limits. South Norfolk Council objected to that. It said those homes were not allocations and should not be used to reach 1,200.

In the same letter, the inspector invited the council to find more capacity. He named Earsham, Pulham St Mary, Spooner Row, Ellingham and Swardeston as places where a larger boundary or a higher density might work.

The published schedule of main modifications shows the result. Its revised table, main modification MM2, reads:

That table has no line for settlement limits. On the schedule’s own figures, the plan now clears 1,200 without the homes the council disputed. The plan as first submitted provided for 1,330.

The sites that grew

These are the allocations whose size in the schedule is larger than anything in the inspector’s March letter. Distances are as the crow flies from Wymondham.

• Earsham, land north of The Street (EAR2): up to 25 homes, now up to 50. The site grows from 1.4 to 3.49 hectares. About 15 miles south-east.
• Pulham St Mary, north of Norwich Road and west of Poppy’s Lane (PSM1): up to 50, now up to 75. The site grows from 2.83 to 3.95 hectares. About 12 miles south-east.
• Little Melton, south of School Lane and east of Burnthouse Lane (LM1): about 35, now up to 45. The site stays at 3.80 hectares, so this is a higher density. About four miles north-east.
• Swardeston, land off Bobbins Way (SWA1): about 20, now about 30. About six miles east.
• Swardeston, land on Main Road (SWA2): 43 in the March letter, now about 55. The site grows from 2.7 to 3.6 hectares.
• Alpington, west of Church Meadow (ALP1): about 25, now up to 30. About 11 miles east.
• Winfarthing, land west of Hall Road (WIN1): about 20, now about 21. About ten miles south.

Two changes the inspector had already proposed in March are confirmed. At Spooner Row, about three miles south-west of Wymondham, land west of Bunwell Road rises from about 35 homes to about 45, on 3.58 hectares instead of 2.31. At Ditchingham, the schedule now says 65 homes from a single access via Hamilton Way, or about 70 if a second access can be provided.

Ellingham and the second Spooner Row site, south of Station Road, are unchanged at 25 homes each.

The deleted sites stay deleted

The 11 cuts from March all appear in the schedule. That includes the three nearest Wymondham: Wicklewood WIC1 (40 homes), Barford BAR1 and BAR2 (19 and 40) and Barnham Broom BB1 (40). Wicklewood’s smaller site off Hackford Road survives, at 12 homes.

The schedule runs to 70 main modifications. Many add conditions rather than change numbers: flood risk assessments, archaeology checks and early talks with Anglian Water about sewage capacity. At Little Melton, for example, the access road must sit as far as practicable from the listed barn and be landscaped.

What it means for you

• The consultation closes at 5pm on Monday 26 October 2026.
• You can only comment on the main modifications, and only on whether the plan is legally compliant and sound. The council’s page says this is not a chance to reopen parts of the plan the inspector has already considered.
• Comment online through the council’s consultation portal, or on a paper form posted to South Norfolk Council, The Horizon Centre, Peachman Way, Broadland Business Park, Norwich NR7 0WF.
• Paper copies are at the council offices, at libraries in South Norfolk and at the Millennium Library in Norwich.
• The updated sustainability appraisal and habitats assessment are open to comment too, alongside the new policy maps.
• The inspector reads the comments, then writes his final report. Adoption needs a vote of full council, which the council has said it expects in early 2027.
• Questions about the process go to the independent programme officer, Annette Feeney, on 07775 771026.
• Wymondham itself is not a village cluster, so this plan allocates no sites in the town. For applications in the town, see our Wymondham planning news.

Sources

• Schedule of Main Modifications, South Norfolk Village Clusters Housing Allocations Plan, for the MM2 totals, the revised site capacities and areas in Appendix A, the Spooner Row, Ditchingham, Little Melton, Earsham and Pulham St Mary policy wording, and the deletions.
• Main Modifications supporting documents, including the frequently asked questions, for how to comment, where to view copies and what happens next.
• Inspector David Reed’s post-hearings letter, 23 March 2026, for the 991 and 1,201 figures, the 34 settlement-limit homes, the March capacity changes and the invitation to find more capacity.
• South Norfolk Village Clusters Housing Allocations Plan Examination, South Norfolk Council, for the consultation dates, the soundness-only rule and the programme officer’s details.
• South Norfolk Council’s response to the inspector, 27 April 2026, for its objection to counting settlement-limit homes and the expected adoption in early 2027.
• Straight-line distances from Wymondham calculated from postcodes.io place coordinates.

Main modifications are proposals, not decisions. The inspector’s final report comes after the consultation, and the council then decides whether to adopt the plan.