PEOPLE have until the beginning of next month to comment on plans for 52 new homes on the route into Thetford.

PEOPLE have until the beginning of next month to comment on plans for 52 new homes on the route into Thetford.

The site at Maine Street, to the southwest of the town, off Brandon Road, is currently unused, but if granted, the proposal would include a mixture of two and two-and-a-half storey homes.

It would also see built 14 affordable homes with three and four bedrooms, and one three-storey house at the entrance to provide a “gateway” to Thetford.

The application is made by Keir Homes, which has already received outline planning permission from Breckland Council, and described the site as “literally breckland with drifts of gorse and strands of pine”.

The firm added: “We are acutely conscious of the significance of the site, marking as it does the northwest entrance to Thetford.”

It is planned that the homes would face away from the A11 and from an area of breckland which has been designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI).

Keir Homes added: “A particularly significant group of trees stands at the south east corner of the SSSI and includes a large oak within the application site.

“We felt that it was vital that this should belong to the public realm and act as a focal point for the development. We concluded that significant views exist out of the site exist to the east, across Maine Street to the green space beyond; to the west, into the SSSI, and to the north east, towards the tree group.

“Views into the site should offer vistas through to the SSSI, or show distinctive building forms as a backdrop to the trees on the site periphery.”

There would also be 112 parking spaces, or roughly two per home. People now have until November 2 to comment on the plans, which can be found on the Breckland Council website at www.breckland.gov.uk.

A decision will be made by January 4 next year.