Hopkins Homes given one final chance to solve legal issues holding up 1,100-home West Winch Growth Project development

A developer has been told it has one final chance to solve legal issues that have held up a key 1,100-home development after furious councillors reluctantly agreed to give them more time.

West Norfolk Council’s planning committee members have run out of patience with Hopkins Homes, which has been granted its third extension for the scheme in North Runcton.

It has been struggling to finalise paperwork and legal agreements that have stalled the construction of the first phase of the West Winch Growth Project of 4,000 homes for nearly nine months.

The developer now has six weeks, but it has been warned this really will be the final chance.

At a meeting this week, the frustrations among councillors and officers were clear when the issue was raised as ‘urgent business’.

Martin Storey, a councillor for Feltwell, said he was “sick to death of them coming back time and time again” to ask for more opportunity to work on the issue.

He added: “We have to make a stand for King’s Lynn and West Norfolk.”

However, refusing the scheme will have huge implications for the authority and wider area.

The West Winch Growth Project is a key part of West Norfolk Council’s plans to deliver 10,000 new homes in the next 15 years.

The scheme will also include numerous infrastructure improvements, including a new road, which will be built to ease traffic on the A10 and A47 – roads already near capacity.

Hannah Wood-Handy, a senior planning officer at West Norfolk Council, explained that the complex nature of the application had led to the legal wrangles.

One landowner is also understood to be refusing to agree to the sale of his land, which is holding up the scheme.

Farmers involved in the land sale have said they have been left frustrated at how they have been treated by Hopkins Homes.

After a furious debate, councillors agreed to allow the six-week extension.

It comes as plans to build a new £109million road as part of the scheme have passed a major hurdle, with a decision due soon.

Landowners have signed a sale agreement to allow the West Winch Access Road - a vital scheme that will be built to enable the 4,000 homes to be constructed - to go ahead.

The 1.5-mile road would connect the A47 and the A10 south of Lynn to help ease traffic, which will increase when the new housing is built.

However, doubt has been cast over the scheme by roads minister Lilian Greenwood, who raised major concerns that it may not receive government funding last month.

However, Ms Wood-Handy said Hopkins Homes had finalised the land sale agreement needed for the road to go ahead.

Ms Wood-Handy also signalled the plans could go before Norfolk County Council's planning committee next month.

However, Norfolk County Council has said it is yet to confirm a date for the decision.