Members of a community group now have the backing of their MP in a long-standing battle over plans for a fabrication business to set up shop in a Norfolk village.
Members from Griston Community Group are continuing their fight with Breckland Council over a planning application that could see Eastern Attachments, a heavy industry fabrication business, move into the Coughtrey Trading Estate.
The locals from Griston are concerned the development will be alongside housing and recently constructed retirement homes.
In the latest chapter on the ongoing row, which started last April, the group has now met with Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman, who has also voiced his support for the group's concerns via a letter published on his website where he urged for permission to be refused.
John Heath, who is the leader of the Griston Community Group said: “Residential properties surround the site.
"This contravenes their statutory local plan policies and a secretary of state directive and includes errors in planning methods.
“There appears to be an attempt to evade a Michael Gove decision requiring the planning application for the development to undertake an environmental impact assessment, particularly to ensure the suitability of the development in a residential area and adequate protection has been evaluated for the health and wellbeing of nearby residents.”
The community group got the application deferred after a legal challenge last April, on six grounds.
A Breckland Council spokesperson has said: “Breckland Council, in its role as the local planning authority, is currently considering three separate applications for the site at Griston.
"No decision has yet been issued on any of these applications and we are looking to get them to a planning committee in the near future.”
Plans were approved by the council's planning committee back in January but were set to go back to it with additional information on April 18.
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