Campaigners want more land protected from housing

A group of people hold up signs. Written on them are slogans including "save a place for nature". The mixed gathering includes a man pushing a baby in a pushchair and a man using a walking stick.

Image source, Alexandra KempImage caption,

Residents in King's Lynn are campaigning for more green space to be protected

ByClare WordenNorfolk

Published35 minutes ago

After a successful campaign getting parkland protected, residents in a Norfolk town are asking for more space to be given the same safeguards from development.

Seven acres (2.8 hectares) of land known as Harding's Pits, beside the River Great Ouse in King's Lynn, will be preserved after it was given "village green status" by the county council.

The Harding's Pits Community Association had campaigned for the past 30 years to keep the area as leisure space.

Next, the group wants the protection to be extended to the east side, which has been earmarked for up to 50 houses in King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council's local plan, external. The authority has been approached for comment.

A drone shot of a large green area with lots of trees. A river runs down the left side of the green space.

Image source, Shaun Whitmore/BBCImage caption,

The land in the foreground has been given protected status, but the space closer to the town centre at the top has been earmarked for housing

Alexandra Kemp, an independent councillor, said she was asking her authority to amend its local plan.

She said: "I want to protect the east side of Hardings Way as a village green. To take out the 50 houses earmarked for Harding's Pits east from the borough's local plan, and provide community sports facilities, more trees and places for wildlife instead.

"Any development along Hardings Way risks more general traffic which would be devastating to the peace, quiet, safety, and amenity and wildlife."

The local council has been given a target to build more than 10,000 new homes by 2040 by the government.