Major housing development approved for village

The plans for Heacham were originally rejected by councillors, but approved on appeal

A major development in a seaside village has been given the go-ahead despite opposition from neighbours.

Some people living in Heacham, Norfolk, fear the scheme will create a "village within a village" and lead to a big increase in traffic passing a nearby school.

The 122-home Cheney Hill project will be delivered in two phases and will also include 25 affordable homes.

King's Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council initially rejected the plans but government officials overturned this decision after an appeal – and now the design of the estate's been approved by planners.

At a planning committee meeting on Monday, Michael Brammer, a villager opposing the project, said the scheme "is almost a village itself, it is that big".

He also worried about adequate street lighting and pedestrian access, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Heacham Parish Council said it was "deeply concerned" about several aspects of the plans

Dean Rawnsley, chairman of Heacham Parish Council, added that vehicle monitoring showed there were up to 1,000 cars driving past the site a day.

He feared construction traffic and the growing population could cause significant problems, especially for children attending the nearby school.

In response, Ian Hill, acting as an agent for developer W.H. Kerkham, said there were no planning reasons for the application to be refused, noting Norfolk County Council's highways team did not object to the scheme.

But Terry Parish, a district councillor for Heacham, said highways officers relied on traffic data from 2016 and that it was not up to date.

"Even Heacham has moved on since then," he said.

He also worried about the impact of the air-source heat pumps to be installed in the homes, believing the potential noise they would produce had not been fully assessed.

However, Mr Hill said the pumps would operate within guidelines and the company was following government advice to install the equipment in new houses as part of efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Both schemes were approved by the planning committee.