Long-awaited plans which would see up to 200 new homes on a derelict Norwich site have been lodged.
Plans for the first phase of new homes at the former Mile Cross depot site have been submitted to its own planning committee by Norwich City Council.
The Labour-controlled council first mooted the idea of building homes at the site, off Mile Cross Road, in 2017.
And proposals for the first 67 of the houses have been submitted, with a mixture of one-bed, two-bed and four-bed homes.
Beth Jones, City Hall's cabinet member for housing and community safety revealed: "I am greatly looking forward to further council housing being brought forward on further sites in due course, especially at the former Mile Cross depot."
The 10.5-acre site used to be the council’s City Works depot - where City Hall's fleet of vehicles and in-house workers were based.
It then became the Mile Cross Business Centre, home to about 30 small to medium-sized businesses, but they were served notice as the council looked to develop the site.
The buildings on the site were demolished in 2019. But there has been a long period in which the land has had to be checked for contamination.
The site was used to dispose of rubble after buildings in the city were bombed during the Baedeker Raids of 1942, so careful checks had to be carried out.
There has also been work to treat contaminated groundwater by removing the pollutants or converting them into harmless products.
Previous investigations found chemical contaminants such as asbestos, along with low levels of ground gas.
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The council received almost £1m from the government to help pay for decontamination works.
In November 2018, the council revealed it was considering whether a new swimming pool could form part of the proposals for the site.
The council wanted to explore whether money generated by the new homes could allow the construction of the leisure facility.
But a feasibility study showed the numbers did not stack up in favour of a pool, so that idea was scrapped.
A decision on the plans will be made by the planning committee in due course.
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