Brancaster Parish Council is denied cash to improve village hall car park

A coastal parish council has been refused the cash to expand the car park at a village hall.

Brancaster Parish Council - which covers the villages of Brancaster Staithe, Brancaster and Burnham Deepdale – had submitted a request for £20,000 to West Norfolk Council.

It wanted the larger authority to support its plans by using cash generated through new housing developments.

Brancaster council said the extension to its village hall car park would have helped more people to drop by, as drivers are “discouraged from visiting” due to poor access.

In a letter supporting its application, the parish council said: “This project will make the village hall and recreation area safer, more accessible, and more enjoyable for everyone.”

The village hall is also home to a post office and a small shop.

However, members of the borough council’s community infrastructure levy (CIL) spending panel – a group that decides which community groups receive funding through CIL cash generated through new developments – decided to refuse the application.

This was because the parish council already holds enough money to complete the work itself, and the fact it had already received £36,000 of CIL money it is yet to spend.

This is not the first time the parish council has failed in its attempts to expand its car park facilities.

In 2023, it withdrew plans to create a 250-space car park on a field opposite a lay-by in Brancaster Staithe after the application generated dozens of objections.

People worried about the harm it could cause to the remains of a Roman fort at the site.

It has also been involved in a lengthy dispute over another car park in the parish at the Royal West Norfolk Golf Club, after the Scolt Head and District Common Rightholders’ Association claimed the council owed them money for the loss of grazing rights.