Council's decision to block development overruled

West Norfolk Council had blocked the application in the village of Stoke Ferry

A developer has won a fight to build flats and shops in a village after appealing to government planning officials.

Paul Bishopp, from Norton Hill in Norfolk, has been granted permission to create two retail units with two homes above on brownfield land in Stoke Ferry, near Downham Market.

The scheme had previously been blocked by West Norfolk Council's planning committee, which said it was "morally wrong" previous promises to build a new village hall as part of the project were dropped.

But the Planning Inspectorate - the government department that presides over planning disputes - ruled there was no evidence to support claims it would harm the area.

An earlier bid for housing as part of a phased development was approved for the site off Furlong Road, outside the development boundary of Stoke Ferry, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

This bid was approved on the agreement a village hall would also be built, but the previous developer went bust and the site has been untouched for the 10 years.

The proposed site near Stoke Ferry has remained untouched for the past decade

The reasons councillors gave for blocking the more recent application was that the site was outside the development boundary, and they believed a conservation area would be harmed.

But a planning inspector said: "No harm to the character or appearance of the area is suggested, nor any technical objections such as highway safety, nature conservation or flooding."

They ruled the project could go ahead with a number of conditions, including better control of foul and surface water drainage - and said the council must pay the costs of the appeal.

Sue Lintern, an Independent Partnership councillor, said the new development would offer "little for the community".

Martin Storey, a Conservative councillor, said villagers had been "abandoned".