Building has started on Blofield's new hall, cafe and preschool. The council says its loan is £100,000, beside £650,000 from the Greater Norwich Growth Board.

Building work has started on Blofield’s new community hub, on the site of the old primary school off Plantation Road. The organisations behind it marked the start with a ground-breaking on Tuesday 3 November.

Broadland District Council announced the start on 9 November. Its announcement also answers the question we could not answer in September: how much the council is lending. It is £100,000 (Broadland and South Norfolk Councils, 9 November 2026).

Who is paying

The council’s announcement sets out the funding:

  • £650,000 from the Greater Norwich Growth Board
  • a £100,000 loan from Broadland District Council, from Community Infrastructure Levy money
  • Blofield Parish Council’s own Community Infrastructure Levy reserves
  • Section 106 contributions from developers

Together the two figures the council has published come to £750,000. The announcement does not give the parish council’s own share or the Section 106 total.

When Broadland’s Cabinet agreed the loan on 15 September, it took the item in private and published no figure, as we reported at the time. The builder’s tender notice estimated the contract at £1.2 million before VAT (Find a Tender, notice 2026/S 000-021104).

What is being built

The council says the hub will have:

  • a village hall with a kitchen, which can be split in two
  • a community cafe and office space
  • a new home for Blofield Preschool, with its own outdoor space
  • parking for cars and bicycles

It sits beside the play park and outdoor gym that the parish council has already opened on the site. The primary school moved to its new £11.3 million building in April 2025, which freed up the old site.

Sue Holland, the leader of Broadland District Council, said the hub “will be much more than a building”. She said: “It will provide a place where people can meet, children can learn and play, and local groups and organisations can thrive.”

The council says Blofield Parish Council has worked on the project for more than eight years, through consultation, planning and fundraising.

When it should open

Neither council has given an opening date in the announcement. The timetable in the parish council’s tender notice was:

  • the preschool section finished no later than 25 March 2027, so it can be fitted out over the Easter holidays
  • practical completion by May 2027

The contract was due to start on 1 September, so building has begun about two months later than that notice planned. The council’s announcement does not name the builder, and the parish council’s Blofield Park page still says a principal contractor will be appointed “shortly”.

What it means for you

  • Expect building traffic off Plantation Road while the hub goes up.
  • Preschool families: the preschool’s new rooms are due by spring 2027, if the programme holds.
  • Local groups looking for a hall will be able to hire the new one once it opens. The parish clerk is at clerk@blofield-pc.gov.uk.

Roads around Blofield are busy with other work too: Holly Lane is shut until 18 November. See Broadland roadworks this week, and for other building plans, Broadland planning news.

Sources