The final sign-off for 85 new homes in a Norfolk village has been given unanimously by councillors, significantly increasing the size of the settlement.

The new development will be built on land north of Kenninghall Road and south of Quidenham Road in Harling, which lies between Thetford and Attleborough.

The new homes are the third and final phase of a large development in the village. The first and second phases, Poppy Fields and Rusina Fields, have been completed, with more than 60 houses built.

In 2011, before the construction of those phases, the village's population was recorded as 2,142 in 941 households, meaning that the new homes represent a substantial increase in residents.

The new 85-home phase had already received permission in principle in February 2020, but at a meeting on Tuesday, August 2, members of Breckland Council’s planning committee examined the scheme’s finer details.

A council officer told the committee the scheme boasted “an overprovision of open space” and that the house designs had been amended, following a suggestion from Norfolk Police, to include more windows, improving the site’s safety and security.

Conservative councillor Robert Kybird asked for an assurance that the new set of homes would include a walking and cycling link to the neighbouring phases of the development.

Paul LeGrice, managing director of Abel Homes, said a footpath would run across an open space at the centre of development to provide such a link.

An earlier version of the plan had proposed 101 homes and a GP surgery.

But the scheme was amended to reduce that figure to 85, and the proposed surgery was dropped from the application.

The development will include two one-bedroom, 19 two-bedroom, 42 three-bedroom, 18 four-bedroom and four five-bedroom properties.

Some 15 of the 85 will be classed as affordable, and according to a statement submitted by the developer’s agent, will be “designed seamlessly” with the other homes “to ensure tenure blindness throughout”.

“A robust yet attractive red brick” is proposed to provide the base material across the development, “complemented with white render at key locations”.

Solar panels are proposed on “the majority of homes”, with electric vehicle charging points at every property and water butts installed to harvest rainwater for gardens.