Nelson & His World

Hi all

First time poster and native of Burnham Thorpe, North Norfolk.

It would seem that our pretty village, the birthplace of Nelson, where his father was parson and where he lived during his years not at sea is being turned into more of a yuppy second home enclave than it already as is. The Cokes, the local landowners, have decided to infill the middle of the village with large luxury holiday homes for the Chelsea-on-sea overspill types unable to find anywhere in Burnham Market to put their boats.

Burnham Thorpe for any of you that have visited it, the church and the local pub will know how special it is and in particular its open feel. These houses will be slap bang in the middle of the village.

Burnham Thorpe is classified as a small village through the Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Core Strategy (which sets the overarching strategy for the District) and doesn't have a settlement boundary. This means that it is an area where the principle of new housing isn't generally acceptable unless it is to meet local needs (affordable housing).

Originally the development was sold to the village as 5 house 3 of which would be affordable for locals working within 25 miles but now it is 5 large and only 1 affordable and I doubt there is an everlasting covenant on the affordable one.

Feel free to help us by adding any comments to the planning application.
http://online.west-norfolk.gov.uk/onlin ... 2BCIV07800

Many thanks for your post and link, Burnham Thorpeman.

I am sorry to hear of the planned development in Burnham Thorpe. I can't recall anywhere with a connection to a national hero that remains so unspoiled. If Nelson were to come back today he would recognise the landmarks: the pub, the church and the little stream he used to jump over. The village has a truly timeless air which mass development would destroy for ever. I do hope common sense and a feeling for the spirit of the place will prevail.

I'm also very sad to read of the planned developement. I have looked at the application and have viewed the heritage statement. On the statement, there are several photos including an aerial shot, which shows the land in the centre of the village which could be developed.
http://online.west-norfolk.gov.uk/online-applications/files/C0F9C99A0CC0DFDC2FFB15907DF038CA/pdf/16_00381_F-HERITAGE_STATEMENT-3661152.pdf

So the very bad news is that the planning made use of a loophole to push this through without it going to committee and on a flood plain and conservation area. The local view is that this has a whiff of corruption about it. You can read about it in The Times today http://goo.gl/paxFnk (I had to shorten it to make the link work)

Feel free to let @bwebster135, the journalist, know all about it on twitter.