Plans to build a set of bungalows and gift land for a village hall car park have been rejected by government officials. 

Trudi Seaman, a landowner, has been locked in a battle with North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) over a bid to build bungalows in Hempstead, a small village close to Holt.

The authority blocked the Chapel Lane housing plans, which would have also seen half the site donated to the village hall for use as a car park, in early 2023.

Ms Seaman then took the fight to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which has the power to overturn decisions where councils have strayed from the law. 

But government officials have sided with NNDC and rejected the scheme.

Inspectors argued that Hempstead was countryside, where construction should be limited, and the remote location would make homeowners overly reliant on having a car.

They said: “Given the lack of services within the village, the extremely limited public transport and the unattractive walking and cycling route to the nearest large settlement, it is inevitable that future occupiers of the proposed new dwellings would be heavily reliant upon private cars to access services and facilities and to meet their day-to-day needs.

“Whilst car journeys to Holt would be relatively short, they are also likely to be frequent.” 

The officials said there may be “some benefits” from the gifted parking space, but also argued that the access route to the site is “substandard” with restricted visibility and the extra traffic would be “detrimental to highway safety”. 

The scheme also saw opposition from Flagship Housing, a social housing provider, who argued that the only pedestrian and vehicular access to the site is via The Knoll, an access track owned by them. 

Ms Seaman has also submitted a separate application with the car park section omitted, which has also been rejected by NNDC.