Proposals for a vast car park in one of the most popular spots on the coast have prompted opposition from locals and heritage groups concerned it will built on the site of a Roman fort.
Brancaster Parish Council has submitted an application to create the 250-space car park on a field opposite a lay-by in Brancaster Staithe, on the stretch of coast between Hunstanton and Wells-next-the-Sea.
The parish authority says the scheme is necessary to help ensure more yellow lines can be painted on the village’s roads.
It has proposed creating two car parks - one at Cherry Field in Brancaster itself, and the other in Brancaster Staithe.
The council has said the latter car park, which would fall within the area of the Branodunum scheduled ancient monument, would “only be to allow parking for [boat] trailers to free up the Hard”.
And while the former scheme has received just a small handful of objections, the latter has received some 55 letters of objection from residents, in addition to the RSPB, Historic England, Natural England and the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) all writing in with their concerns.
The RSPB said that the project could have an adverse impact on protected species and habitats.
They added: "We have concerns about the route taken by members of the public from the car parks to the beach.
"Whilst there are some footpaths, these do not provide the most direct access to the beach so the likelihood is that people will find shortcuts across marshes and reedbed habitats causing adverse impacts to protected species and habitats."
Historic England meanwhile warned: "Disturbance of buried archaeological remains would lead to permanent loss of the evidence that they contain and would result in harm to the significance of the scheduled monument."
And the CBA said: "The documentation does not recognise that the application site is within the scheduled area or consider the potential impacts of the development on buried archaeological deposits."
Brancaster Parish Council has said on its website that the car parks are needed, because "the issue of car parking in the parish has been of great concern, especially since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, when visitor numbers increased dramatically".
West Norfolk Borough Council is due to issue a decision on the application by Tuesday, October 4. The plans can be viewed by searching for reference 22/01163/CU at https://online.west-norfolk.gov.uk/online-applications/
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here