Controversial plans to build more than 200 homes on the edge of a Norwich woodland have been temporarily withdrawn following the imposition of new planning restrictions.

A proposal to construct 239 properties on the Racecourse Plantation, at Plumstead Road East, was due to be heard by planners on Wednesday but was withdrawn at the eleventh hour.

The Thorpe St Andrew scheme is the latest victim of new restrictions on the planning system intended to keep Norfolk's waterways clean.

Earlier this month, the county’s councils were informed that they must not grant planning permission for any schemes involving 'overnight accommodation' until they can prove developments would not lead to phosphates and other nutrients flowing into the River Wensum and the Broads.

Natural England and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) say councils need to make assessments against which developers can prove their schemes are nutrient neutral, by providing mitigation if necessary.

The sudden implementation of the changes have frustrated house builders and developers, who now face unknown delays before applications can be signed off.

The Thorpe scheme, located within 36 acres of the Racecourse Plantation, has seen fierce opposition in the past due to the loss of woodland.

Land not used for development will be joined with around 140 acres of the neighbouring Belmore and Brown’s plantations to become a community woodland park.

Hill, the developer behind the project, had been due to have its planning application heard last month. However, the Broadland meeting was cancelled.

Following the application's withdrawal, a spokesperson for Hill said: “In light of the new guidance issued by Natural England affecting all developments in Broadland District Council - alongside a further 41 local authorities across England - we are working with the local authority to understand what the implications are for our planning application.

"We hope to be able to bring Plumstead Road to planning committee as soon as possible and look forward to starting works on this exemplar scheme.”

At a BDC planning meeting on Wednesday, an officer told councillors the Hill development could have been approved by them with a council chief signing off the final plans once the company had a mitigation plan in place.

However, the officer said the applicant was “not comfortable with that”.