Update, 1 May 2023

More than fifty people attended the meeting at the Village Hall on Friday, and the overwhelming sentiment seemed to be against the Lanpro proposal. The committee, comprising seven members, was formed. Afterwards the meeting turned into an enjoyable social event amounting almost to a party, thanks to the wine, etc. and gourmet treats generously provided by Jo and Mark Cutmore-Scott of The Harper.

One of the new members unfortunately had to stand down, for personal reasons, before the first meeting.

The committee held its first meeting today, 1 May, with Louise Goodenough as elected Chair. The present members are:

Louise Goodenough

Jonathan Barnes

Frank Blundell

Laura Osborne

Adam Pitchford

Fiona Priest

Don’t forget, this is an enterprise involving everyone who wants to be involved. We will keep you updated via this blog, and if you have any information or other assistance to offer us, we would love to hear from you. The contact details are on the sidebar.

We learned tonight that NNDC has rejected the pre-planning application for the land opposite The Rectory. You can read the Senior Planning Officer’s response here. This greatly reduces the chance that the Binham Road/North Street proposal will get anywhere, but we are still assuming an application for it will be made and have not relaxed our efforts.

Six new dwellings opposite the Rectory?

A pre-planning application was submitted to NNDC last January for the erection of six dwellings, with a car park, on land opposite the Rectory:

The consultation period has passed and comments are officially closed, but the Case Officer, Ms Jayne Owen (jayne dot owen at north-norfolk.gov.uk), has indicated that comments may still be submitted*. If you wish to object to the proposal, it is far more effective if each objection is individually written and signed. A petition or form letter, no matter how many signatories it may have, counts as one objection.

The case number is IS2/23/0039, which refers to ‘Erection of six dwellings with car park, publicly accessible open space and landscaping | Land North Of Holt Road Langham Norfolk NR25 7BX.’ NNDC advice about making comments is available here.

The proposal is alarming in its own right in that the site makes a very important contribution to the character of Holt Road and the village in general. This proposal may also have a bearing on the one to build at Binham Road/North Street, in that if Holt Road goes ahead, the case against the other, newer proposal could be weakened.

* UPDATE

It was to the best of our belief that we stated (above) that comments on this pre-planning application were still being entertained. However, our informant was as surprised as we were to find that this is not the case: the commenting period has ended, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused to Ms Owen and commenters alike.

Nonetheless, we understand that all comments will be retained in the council’s case-file relating to the proposal.