Shipdham Old Waggon and Horses development set for approval

The 159-year-old Waggon and Horses in Shipdham, which stood empty for several years, had been earmarked to be flattened since 2017 along with other businesses at the site including a car workshop and fish and chips takeaway.

These buildings have since been knocked down and work started last year after a previous application for 90 homes was approved but now the developers want to increase the number of properties it will create.

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Housing firm Places and People wants to turn the 3.7 hectare site on land north of Chapel Street into 102 homes, 100pc of which will be affordable, ranging from two to four-bedroom properties.

The bid ran into opposition from locals, who feared it would lead to the village's GP surgery becoming oversubscribed and add to traffic issues in the area.

Another worried the homes would look like "rabbit hutches" and it would ruin the village scene.

With more homes on the way, the developer would be expected to increase the contributions it would pay to support the local community - known as Section 106 payments.

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The Breckland Council offices in Dereham (Image: Archant © 2013)

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However, Places for People said it would be unviable to deliver the scheme if they were made to pay anything over £583,991, meaning there is a deficit of nearly half a million pounds of the money requested by local services.

Breckland Council members will make the final decision on the project next week.

Attempts to build housing on the site have previously caused controversy among locals.

In 2021, the way that businesses were forced out from the area was described as "cynical" by Breckland councillors.

Although some locals have been eager to see the derelict site redeveloped ever since it was first proposed in 2017.