Homes to be built by beach as 'no immediate' risk

Homes are being lost along the Norfolk coast as the cliffs erode

More than 20 new homes are set to be built 150 metres from the beach in a region which has seen significant erosion.

North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) officials have recommended that 23 affordable homes be built on farmland on the edge of Walcott, a small village between Bacton and Happisburgh.

Large sections of the cliffs at Happisburgh have collapsed into the sea in recent weeks because of tidal conditions and strong winds.

However officials at NNDC insisted the new properties in Walcott were at no immediate risk.

The dire landscape created by erosion has meant the beach could only be accessed via Cart Gap, to the south, or Walcott, to the north, the Local Democracy Reporting Service wrote.

As of December, some 34 homes in Happisburgh have fallen into the sea in the last 20 years.

But officials at NNDC said the coastal partnership team, which helped advise councils, have raised no objections to the plans because all the homes fall outside the most at-risk area.

However, council officers admitted the corner of one of the property’s car parking spaces is at risk by the year 2105.

They said: “It is considered the proposal would not result in increased risk to life or significant increase in risk to property.”

Norfolk County Council Highways Authority objected to the plans and argued they would result in an “unsustainable development”, overly reliant on using cars to access services in neighbouring villages.

But NNDC officials dismissed their concerns, saying it would not lead to an “unacceptable impact upon highway safety”.