Frquently asked questions about the West Winch Strategic Growth Area
What is the West Winch Strategic Growth Area?
This is an area of land to the south of King’s Lynn, between the A47 and the A10, that has been identified as an area that can be developed to meet most of the Borough’s need for housing in a sustainable manner with an appropriate level of supporting facilities.
The West Winch Growth Area is expected to deliver up to 4,000 new homes together with supporting infrastructure including the West Winch Housing Access Road (WWHAR), which will link the A10 to the A47, new schools and community facilities.
Why build at West Winch, and how will the town cope with the extra cars/traffic?
It has long been known that the borough needs more homes. This site has been identified as providing the best option for a large-scale development in West Norfolk and it was allocated as a strategic ‘urban expansion’ area around King’s Lynn in the Core Strategy (2011) and the Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Plan (2016). These documents have been superseded by the borough’s new Local Plan, which was adopted in March 2025.
It’s the most sustainable location because it is right next to the town (reducing extra pressure from cars) and is close to transport links (and new transport links will be included in the development). Other parts of the borough are more difficult to develop because of flooding and ecology issues.
Inevitably there will be some more cars but a larger site also gives us more opportunity to plan for alternatives and we are already doing that. We are looking at a transport strategy both for the site and for King’s Lynn and the surrounding area. This will include improvements to routes into and around the town, new bus and cycle routes, and new traffic management measures.
When will building start at West Winch?
Hopkins Homes received ‘outline planning consent’ for 1,110 homes, a new school and associated infrastructure in the northern part of the Growth Area (on a site of approximately 52 hectares) in August 2024 (Planning reference 13/01615/OM) subject to signing of S106 agreements. This area is also sometimes referred to as ‘Constitution Hill’ and Hopkins have provisionally named the area ‘Hardwick Green’ (as it lies within the ward of Hardwick and wholly within the parish of North Runcton).
Before they can build anything, Hopkins need to submit full details of the design (known as ‘reserved matters’). When these are approved and planning conditions have been met, they can begin building. We think that the earliest Hopkins Homes will start on site is 2026 with a small number of homes potentially completed in 2027.
What is the West Winch Housing Access Road (WWHAR)?
The WWHAR is a new road that will provide access to the Growth Area. It will be approximately 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometres) long, with roundabout junctions near Gravelhill Lane on the A10 and near Sheep’s Course Wood on the A47. It will be a single carriageway road with three additional roundabout junctions into the new housing area.
The WWHAR will become the new A10 and the existing A10 will serve local traffic with traffic calming, including a lower speed limit.
More information regarding the WWHAR can be found at on the Norfolk County Council's West Winch Housing Access Road web page.
When will the West Winch Housing Access Road be built?
Subject to funding approval, Norfolk County Council plan to start work on the WWHAR in 2026, with the road expected to open before the end of 2027.
Will any homes be built before the West Winch Housing Access Road is open?
Based on Norfolk County Council’s current programme, a small number of homes could be delivered by Hopkins Homes prior to opening of the WWHAR.
As part of their planning permission, Hopkins Homes are allowed to build up to 300 new homes accessed from the A10 before completing a link road through their site connecting to the A47. This link road is separate from the WWHAR and if the WWHAR is not delivered, Hopkins could build 1,110 homes once the link road is open.
The actual number is likely to be very small given the timescales for the access road.
What about the rest of the development?
It will take about 20 years for all of the planned 4,000 homes to be completed. However, this will depend on house builders and market conditions. It is very likely that multiple house builders will be involved across the Growth Area.
In 2018 Metacre submitted an outline planning application (Planning reference 18/02289/OM). for 500 homes a ‘local centre’ and associated infrastructure on behalf of Zurich Assurance, who own a lot of the farmland around West Winch. The planning application is currently being considered and can be viewed on the Council’s planning portal (link) using the above reference.
The site is approximately 25 hectares in area, lies south of Rectory Lane, north of Chequers Lane and straddles the A10. It is wholly within West Winch parish.
The remainder of the Growth Area is controlled by a number of landowners, both private and public. The Borough Council are working with other landowners to ensure that the Growth Area is development in a cohesive manner in line with the Framework Masterplan.
How will drainage/flooding on the site be managed?
This will be dealt with as part of the planning process. Planning applications will have to include a plan for drainage on the site itself and they will also have to show that they will not have a negative impact on the drainage of areas near the site. Any application that can’t show this won’t get permission.
How will you make up for the environmental losses on the site?
Most of the Growth Area is agricultural land that is not of high value in ecology terms, which means that the environmental loss will be lower than on other types of land. However, any loss will still need to be made up for and this will be dealt with through the planning process. Planning applications will need to show how they will minimise losses, for example by keeping hedgerows and mature trees where possible, and by improving biodiversity through landscaping and planting.
What about the impact on community facilities – schools, hospitals etc?
An Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) for the Growth Area was adopted in 2016. This identified the essential infrastructure needed to support the Growth Area including schools, roads, community facilities, and open space along with the cost of delivering this infrastructure. The IDP informed the Framework Masterplan adopted in 2023 which shows how the required infrastructure could be delivered on site.
All planning applications for the Growth Area are required to be in line with the Framework Masterplan and developers will be required to contribute towards the delivery of the required infrastructure through the provision of land and financial contributions.
Will there be any Affordable Housing?
In line with the Council’s current Planning Policies, it is anticipated that 20% of the new housing will be affordable housing. The affordable housing will be secured via S106 agreements as part of the planning permissions. These are legally-binding agreements that apply to the land even if ownership changes.
The Hopkins Homes site will deliver 10% affordable housing on the first phase of their site due to the significant costs of infrastructure required. However, there will be review mechanisms in the S106 legal agreement where the viability of each phase will be reviewed, with the aim of delivering 20% affordable housing across the Hopkins site as a whole.
How can I comment on the plans?
You can comment on individual planning applications as they are submitted via the Planning Portal.
What is an outline planning application?
An outline planning application is used to say whether a development is acceptable in principle. It does not give permission for work to start.
If outline planning permission is given, a ‘reserved matters’ application must be submitted within three years. Pre-commencement conditions may be imposed at this stage.
(There are separate questions explaining reserved matters and pre-commencement conditions.)
What are ‘reserved matters’?
When a planning authority (in this case, the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk) gives outline planning permission, it will give a list of ‘reserved matters’. These are the details that the council needs to approve before permission to start work will be given.
They can include the appearance of buildings and planting around the development site, how the buildings will be laid out, and details of the roads/access into and around the site.
What are ‘pre-commencement conditions’?
These are conditions that must be met before work starts, for example a detailed plan to get rid of sewage water or a plan to manage noise and dust during the work. Work can’t start until both the reserved matters application has been approved and any pre-commencement conditions have been met (in planning terminology, this is known as conditions having been ‘discharged’).
Once all this has happened, work must start within two years.