Matthew SparkesWymondham could get 12 new affordable flats if planning permission is granted later this week.An application for a two-storey building on land south of Friarscroft Lane has been submitted to South Norfolk Council's planning committee, which will meet on February 3 in Long Stratton to decide the outcome.Matthew Sparkes

Wymondham could get 12 new affordable flats if planning permission is granted later this week.

An application for a two-storey building on land south of Friarscroft Lane has been submitted to South Norfolk Council's planning committee, which will meet on February 3 in Long Stratton to decide the outcome.

The plans have been drawn up by Broadland Housing Association, and include seven two-bedroom flats, five single bedroom flats and three designed for wheelchair access, all of which will fall into the affordable housing category.

However, the application has attracted criticism from the Environment Agency, which claims that the runoff rate of rainwater is too high and that more information on the risk of floods needs to be provided.

The council's conservation officer has also been critical of the design for not being more imaginative, but has accepted that it meets planning rules.

More objections have come from local residents, who claim that the project is too dense and that it will increase anti-social behaviour.

Broadland Housing Association currently has funding for the project, but this is likely to be lost if development does not commence by the end of the financial year in April.

In a report to councillors, planning officer Chris Trett said that while this should not affect the decision, 'the possibility of securing affordable housing is an incentive to avoid unnecessary delay in dealing with the application.'