DEVELOPER Morston Assets unveiled its £4.9m plans for phase two of the Yours South Lynn project this week and invited residents from the area to comment on them.
The main components of the latest project are a state-of-the-art Institute for Enterprise with live-in accommodation and small shops, a medical centre, an enclosed courtyard, landscaping and car parking.
The company hopes up to 100 jobs will be created through phase two, with a further 18 to 20 developing through partnerships with the University of East Anglia, the College of West Anglia and Businesslink.
Project manager Ian Dove explained the idea was to create a green environment at South Lynn in which people live close to where they work, with shops and other services within walking distance, thereby reducing commuting costs and carbon emissions.
He said Morston was approaching large organisations, like insurance giant Aviva, and promoting this concept in the hope that they would consider introducing home-working plans for their staff and use the institute's facilities.
"If they have carbon emission targets to meet we think this is a perfect place for them to come," he said.
In the first phase of Yours South Lynn, part of the £200m Nar Ouse Regeneration Area (NORA) development, 109 new homes were built off Saddlebow Road.
Now 102 of these are occupied, with about 300 people living in them.
Morston's media manager Clare Britton said: "They are a mix of town houses and apartments and all have A-rated kitchen appliances helping to reduce utility bills by up to 30 per cent."
The company's planning application for phase two was submitted to West Norfolk Council in November and is expected to be considered by the development and control board at its Monday, February 8, meeting.
If approved, Morston hopes that building work will begin this March or April with the intention of opening the new complex in spring next year.
The Institute for Enterprise will comprise 52 offices of various sizes, from 200 sq ft to about 2,000 sq ft, as well as two informal meeting rooms and a conference room.
It will also have eight live-in properties and three small retail units, and will offer the latest in IT and communications technology.
David Taylor, Morston's head of sustainability, said: "This will be a hub where training can take place and with business support, all geared to keeping people in employment."
The institute is expected to particularly suit home-based workers and employees who work flexitime, as it would avoid them travelling to centres like Norwich or Cambridge and give them more time at home to spend with their families.
The 5,000 sq ft medical centre will house a branch of the existing Southgates Medical Centre, based in Goodwins Road, Lynn, and it is likely to have a pharmacy alongside.
And the company says the new shop units will benefit from more people being in that area during the day.
- Morston's public consultations on phase two were held at the NORA project office in Wisbech Road on Monday evening and at the Community House in Metcalfe Avenue the following evening.