A transformation which will change the face of Fakenham has been officially rubber-stamped, after a legal agreement over a £7m contribution to the community was thrashed out.

North Norfolk District Council had in December 2020 agreed outline planning permission for the urban extension of Fakenham, which will see up to 950 homes, new shops, a school, a hotel and a new roundabout built, in the most radical development in years for the town.

The proposal includes employment development, a new primary school, the creation of a new local retail centre, a new 100-bed hotel, open space and significant infrastructure including a new roundabout onto the A148 Fakenham bypass.

There will also be 157 affordable homes on the development.

On Thursday, the district council confirmed a legal obligation between the applicant/landowners, district and county councils, which ensured that the developer would provide financial contributions and commitments worth more than £7m to the community, had been completed.

John Toye, the council's portfolio holder for planning and enforcement, said: “While it has taken many years to lay out the framework for this development I hope that as proposals for each phase come forward they will be ambitious in delivering the future needs of our residents and environment.”

The application, submitted on behalf of Trinity College Cambridge in 2017, is located on a site that was previously allocated for development by the council in 2011 and a development brief for the site was approved in March 2015.

In addition to securing the principle of development, the outline permission has secured the principal access into the site.

A new roundabout onto the bypass will enable the work to begin and is expected to increase the number of affordable homes in the plans.

Before work can start, though, developers must secure reserved matters approval, which focuses on the finer details of the application and is likely to take place in phases.

Formal planning applications will be submitted for the details in due course and those impacted will have the opportunity to comment on the plans.