Five new homes will soon be built in Terrington St Clement, near King’s Lynn, despite two councillors disagreeing with each other on whether the homes were needed.
Permission for four homes on Alma Avenue had already been granted in principle, but at a Monday borough council meeting, councillors agreed to accept a revised plan for five homes.
An existing bungalow and garage will be demolished to make way for the development, which according to a council report will be “1½ storey cottage/chalet style, with dormer windows serving accommodation within the roofspace”.
Terry Parish, leader of the council’s opposition group of independents, said: “They’ve already got much higher allocation of housing than was thought likely in this area, and this is a Flood Zone Three area." Flood Zone Three areas have a 1 in 100 or greater annual probability of river flooding.
He said allowing the five homes in addition to those already allocated was “annoying” for the parish council and for residents.
He added that hundreds of people had opposed a nearby scheme for 44 homes in the village a few years ago, on the grounds that “it was too many houses in the wrong place”.
“Why add to the problem?” Mr Parish asked.
The council’s Conservative planning committee chair, Vivienne Spikings, responded: “I’ll tell you why. It’s because they’re not being built out. It’s as simple as that.
“Houses are needed, [there are] more and more people in this country. Houses are just not being delivered in a timely fashion for people to come along and buy or rent.
“I’m sorry - all this ‘We don’t want houses here’, ‘We don’t want this’ - we can’t keep coming here at this committee and saying this time after time.”
She added that the site was “what you could call, in one sense, a windfall site”, which means it's not included in a formal local plan for the area.
An officer said: “We regularly grant windfall schemes. You assess them on their own merits and the village, Terrington St Clement, is a key rural service centre.
“It’s not ‘meet your allocation and then shut up shop’, we can’t do that.”
Every committee member voted to approve the plan, except for Mr Parish, who abstained.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here