Happisburgh coastal erosion car park set for replacement

Happisburgh Parish Council (HPC) wants to create a new facility further inland than the current site, with a new access road off the village's Lighthouse Lane.     

But at a meeting in July, North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) said it needed more information about transport issues and to see if the impact on locals could be minimised.  

The scheme is set to come back before the planning committee next week with officials once again recommending approval.  

The plans come with a series of improvements, including three new passing places along Lighthouse Lane, carriageway widening and signage encouraging right turns out of the new car park access road. 

HPC has insisted the move is needed to address the creeping coastal erosion that would one day see the current facility, off Beach Road, fall into the waves.   

The work is becoming increasingly urgent, with Happisburgh having seen large sections of cliffside collapse into the sea in recent weeks following strong winds and storms.

The current car park in Happisburgh sits right on the cliff edge (Image: Stuart Anderson)  

The erosion there has been so bad the beach can currently only be accessed via Cart Gap to the south or Walcott to the north.  

As of December, some 34 homes have fallen into the sea in the last 20 years and the current car park is at serious risk. 

In a report to next Thursday’s planning committee officers said: “The proposed development would cause less than substantial harm to the grade II listed lighthouse and cottages which officers consider would be outweighed by the public benefits arising from the development.  

“While the application was considered acceptable by officers previously, the changes made to the proposed development would lessen the highway impacts further.”