Plans for five new principal homes in Holme next Sea

Earlier proposals for the site at Holme, near Hunstanton, were turned down because the houses were too large to comply with the neighbourhood plan, which states new properties should be aimed at the dwindling local community.

Now Millthorne Developments has been given planning permission to build four three-bed houses and a two-bedroom home at Eastgate Barn, near the main A149 coast road.

Eastgate Barns, at Holme, where five new homes can now be built (Image: Chris Bishop)But while two of the houses have been scaled down from four bedrooms, objectors on the council's planning portal claim the properties are still too large to be affordable for villagers.

Villager Tina Ham said: "The developers may be interested to know that the vast majority of people in this country do not have boot rooms and home offices, in fact many only have one bathroom and loo.

"These properties will be beyond the financial reach of those the site was supposed to house, every day ordinary folk who don't need a home office because, teachers, nurses, shop assistants, van drivers and care assistants cannot work from home."

A leafy lane in Holme (Image: Chris Bishop)The site was identified as suitable for five homes in the neighbourhood plan, which was voted through in 2021. The document says new homes should be principal residences.

It also states they should have an internal floor area of 80 - 120 sqm. Holme Parish Council says four of the proposed properties have an area of 160 sqm.

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It said the proposed properties were still "typical of the more modest homes in the village", many of which have been lost to redevelopment or the second homes market.

"The intended purchaser here is the resident population group many of who want to settle in villages like Holme and become part of the rural community but increasingly are being excluded from the market," it added.

But it objected because of the "cramped" layout of the development, the small gardens allocated to each property and proposals for an access road to the east of the site. 

The village's neighbourhood plan says new properties in Holme should be principal residences (Image: Chris Bishop) Robert Burton said: "Four of the houses are much larger than what is needed in our village which may make them unaffordable to many would-be residents. Also, they are bigger than that approved by the neighbourhood plan."

Some 88 of the 218 (40pc) of properties in Holme are second homes. But the figure does not include holiday lets, which push the figure up to 60pc.

"You can tell in the winter by the timing lights coming on," said semi-retired businessman John Sherratt, 81, who has lived in Holme for more than 20 years.

Around 60pc of properties in the village are second homes or holiday lets (Image: Chris Bishop)"Two-thirds are holiday homes. Just look at the architecture round the village, look at some of the houses.

"You won't find a property here unless it's dilapidated for under £500,000."

A woman out tending her garden shrugged: "Lots of little bungalows get pulled down and mansions go up. It's a lovely village but it's a very affluent village now."