Developers have submitted plans to demolish a former industrial unit and build 24 homes in Watton for the second time.Serruys Property Company, from Lenwade, wants to build the homes on the former Plaswood industrial site off Griston Road but had its initial application refused last August after Breckland councillors raised concerns about noise from neighbouring engineering works and contamination of the land.

Developers have submitted plans to demolish a former industrial unit and build 24 homes in Watton for the second time.

Serruys Property Company, from Lenwade, wants to build the homes on the former Plaswood industrial site off Griston Road but had its initial application refused last August after Breckland councillors raised concerns about noise from neighbouring engineering works and contamination of the land.

But the company is resubmitting, together with lengthy technical and environmental reports, to support its application which states its aim to 'create an inclusive and sustainable residential development with good linkages to the neighbouring site and the town of Watton'.

The proposed homes on the 0.64 hectare site are all three-bedroomed properties and a mixture of detached, semi-detached and terrace with eight being classed as affordable homes.

The former Plaswood factory, a dilapidated asbestos cement-clad building, would be demolished and as much locally sourced materials and labour as possible would be used for the new development as well as any suitable by-products from the factory demolition.

A technical report by Chris Wright, a consultant with Sudbury-based Sound Research Laboratories, suggests that existing noise levels should not prohibit new development of the site for housing as thermal double glazing would keep noise at an acceptable level inside the proposed homes and a barrier along the western boundary would mean noise levels in the new gardens during the day will not exceed those recommended by the World Health Organisation.

An environmental assessment found that the site had been used for furniture-making since the 1960s and railway sidings were present at some point in its history, both of which used hazardous substances.