Changes have been made to a major city housing scheme, where 200 new homes could be built - to convince Norfolk County Council to drop an objection to the plans.

Norwich City Council has made what it describes as 'minor revisions' to plans for the first phase of 67 homes at the former Mile Cross depot site.

The council, which lodged plans for the homes to its own planning committee in February, has made alterations to the area boundaries where homes would be built.

City Hall has also submitted further information about flood risks and a transport assessment.

That comes after officers at County Hall said they would object to the plans, which include a mixture of one-bed, two-bed and four-bed homes, in the absence of an acceptable flood risk assessment or drainage strategy.

The city council hopes extra information it has submitted, along with a transport assessment, will mean the county council abandons its objection.

The 67 homes would form the first phase of work on the site, where up to 200 homes could, ultimately, be built.

The homes would be built at the former Mile Cross depotThe homes would be built at the former Mile Cross depot (Image: Google Maps)

Labour-controlled Norwich City Council, which set aside £41.3m for the new homes, first mooted the idea of building houses at the site, off Mile Cross Road, in 2017.

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.

How the development at the former Mile Cross depot could lookHow the development at the former Mile Cross depot could look (Image: Norwich City Council / Feilden + Mawson)

The buildings there were demolished in 2019.

But 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 pollutants or converting them into harmless products.

The council received almost £1m from the government to help pay for decontamination.

In November 2018, the council revealed it was considering whether a new swimming pool could form part of the proposals, but that idea was scrapped.