Sites need to be found for thousands of extra Norfolk homes, reviving the prospect of the creation of a new town or garden village in the county.
Council officers will next week launch a call to find sites where new homes could potentially be built in Norwich, South Norfolk and Broadland - in order to meet revised government targets.
Under a blueprint for where homes could be acceptable - known as the Greater Norwich Local Plan - the councils had identified where 45,000 new homes could be built between 2018 and 2038.
But since that plan - which includes sites in places such as Rackheath, Hellesdon, Drayton, Taverham, Wymondham and Thorpe St Andrew - was adopted in 2024, the government has increased the housing targets for Greater Norwich by 34pc.
It means the councils have to find sites which would provide almost 2,600 homes a year between now and 2046 - up from 1,929 homes a year under the previous plan.
And because the councils do not have enough identified land for at least five years' worth of housing, they have less control over where the homes could be built.
The shortfall is because of delays caused to the housing system by the nutrient neutrality situation, which means homes which would have contributed to the five year land supply have not been built.
Nutrient neutrality is an environmental directive which stopped councils being able to approve homes before mitigation was put in place to offset the impact on local rivers of the pollution they would produce.
The lack of identified land makes it harder for councils to turn down schemes on sites outside those already contained in the local plan, with a presumption that developers putting forward sustainable housing will be given permission.
To avoid such situations, the Greater Norwich Local Plan needs to be reviewed and updated with new sites for up to 2046.
Council officials stressed the sites included in the current version of the plan will not be affected, but that they need to find new ones to help hit the housing targets.
A frustrated Daniel Elmer, Conservative leader of South Norfolk Council, said: "What the government has done is changed its formula to get housing. We have always built in the countryside, but what is happening here is that the government is forcing more homes into Norfolk to protect London from that.
"It's taken us years and a lot of hard work to get to the place we are in, with collaboration among the councils.
"By making these changes, the government has put us at risk of speculative housing developers."
When the current plan was put together, controversial mooted 'garden villages' in Silfield, Hethel and Honingham Thorpe were proposed but not included.
South Norfolk Council had also expressed an interest in the district becoming home to one of the government's new towns - only to not be selected.
Mr Elmer, also chairman of the Greater Norwich Development Partnership - made up of representatives from the three councils, plus Norfolk County Council and the Broads Authority - said: "I remain committed to protecting like Wymondham, Costessey and Hethersett from development and I envisage that a new town could be a way to do that.
"There's also a range of brownfield sites in Norwich which could be redeveloped - that's where people want to see housing built."
The call for sites will open on Monday, February 9. Council officers will then have 30 months from the end of June to get a new plan in place following analysis of the sites which have been put forward.
Independent inspectors will need to scrutinise the plan before it can be adopted.
Inclusion in the plan makes it more likely councillors will grant planning permission for proposals which come forward for that land, while it becomes easier for the council to reject schemes on sites not included within the plan.
The Greater Norwich councils are not alone. Breckland Council launched a fresh call for sites last year, while West Norfolk Council is starting its call for its next local plan today (Monday, February 2).
Jim Moriarty, cabinet member for planning and licensing, said: "Even though the borough council only adopted a new local plan in March last year, there have been major changes to the planning system since then.
“This means that to plan positively and to meet the needs of current and future communities we need start the work of preparing our next Local Plan now.
“We are starting with a review of possible sites so if you have a parcel of land that you think might be suitable, we would be interested to hear from you.”
Share