Norwich City Council poised to close Anglia Square deal

Sources at Norwich City Council have confirmed the authority has identified an investment partnership that would allow it to redevelop the site. 

The £300m revamp of Anglia Square, which would have seen up to 1,100 new homes built, along with office, retail and leisure space, was suddenly scrapped earlier this year.

Its developers, Weston Homes, said the scheme was no longer financially viable. 

The council launched its bid to bring the site into public ownership earlier this year and is now expected to finalise a deal in the coming weeks, although the details of this remain tightly under wraps. 

Anglia Square in Norwich (Image: Denise Bradley) Weston Homes secured permission for the redevelopment of Anglia Square last spring, after years of public inquiries and legal battles. 

However, it pulled the plug on the project earlier this year, with Weston Homes chief executive Bob Weston saying delays had pushed up the costs.

He slammed the Conservative government and the nutrient neutrality directive, which blocked the building of new homes, among the contributing factors.

The plans would have seen up to 1,100 homes built at the site (Image: Weston Homes) Anglia Square was bought by asset management company Columbia Threadneedle for £7.5m in 2014, but the collapse of the Weston Homes plan means the future of the 11.4-acre site has been shrouded in uncertainty.

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Mike Stonard, leader of Norwich City Council (Image: Steve Adams) Mike Stonard, leader of the council, previously said he would approach Homes England for millions of pounds in funding to save the scheme. 

The authority has since formally applied to the government agency to work collaboratively on acquisition and development, also requesting Columbia Threadneedle pause the sale of the site to allow time to receive confirmation of funding.