Concerns raised over Colney care homes and research plan

Concerns have been raised about a proposed care village on the outskirts of Norwich.

A proposal to build hundreds of retirement homes and a research facility on the estate of Colney Hall, adjacent to the Norwich Research Park, was announced earlier this month.

But the leader of the local parish council said he was concerned about overdevelopment in the village.

Developers said the scale was necessary and will help social care need.

The scheme aims to mix academic research into improving social care with a bespoke training campus and living accommodation, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

It would have inter-generational smart homes and apartments, a care home and student accommodation on the site.

Prof Tim O'Riordan, the co-chair of Colney Parish Council, said the authority "has the view that it is an overdeveloped area".

"We accept there is a need for the hospital and the research park, but there's no need for this to be here," he said.

Colney has one of the smallest populations in south Norfolk, with just 160 residents.

Prof O'Riordan, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA), said the current local plan, setting out areas for development in the South Norfolk Council area, would not allow for expansion on this scale.

But Prof Charles ffrench-Constant, UEA pro-vice chancellor for medicine and health sciences, previously called the plans a "pioneering" development.

Dr Saul Humphrey, the development's project management consultant, rejected the concerns.

He called worries about overdevelopment "subjective" and said the scheme had been carefully designed to balance the needs of the UEA in meeting their research goals and the local area.

"The designers have come up with a clever design that is covered from any angle unless you are a bird," he said.

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