A plan to build 20 homes in the village of Southrepps has been thrown out by North Norfolk District Council.

Councillors on the authority's development committee refused Victory Housing's bid for approval by seven votes to five at its monthly meeting in Cromer today (Thursday, May 15).

The housing trust wanted to build a mix of two, four, six and seven-person homes on land off Long Lane.

There had been 38 objections submitted, including from Southrepps Parish Council.

The refusal was originally put forward solely on highways grounds - the existing access road is less than 4.8m wide and therefore also not wide enough for an HGV such as a refuse vehicle or other delivery vehicle to pass a car without mounting the adjacent footway.

But a range of other grounds for objection were also pointed out, including the scheme being bigger than the council's guidelines on affordable housing developments, the layout and character being out-of-keeping with the village, and provision for pedestrians.

Victory Housing's response

John Archibald, chief executive of Victory, said he was disappointed about the decision.

He said: 'We are disappointed that our scheme at Southrepps did not receive planning consent. However, we recognise that the planning committee conducted a thorough and rigorous scrutiny of our proposals.

'Our priority remains to provide as many new affordable homes as we can in order to meet the considerable housing need in north Norfolk. The provision of affordable homes for local people to live in, especially in rural villages, is a key part of alleviating the housing crisis, and such provision has an overwhelmingly positive impact on those communities.

'We recognise that there will always be people who will be opposed to development, and it is right that their views are heard. Ultimately it is for the planning authority to balance all viewpoints, along with the housing need, before coming to their decision.'