Turnstone: Hunstanton writer John Maiden discusses ‘one of the worst planning decisions ever to be inflicted’ on hometown related to The Green

In his weekly column, Hunstanton writer John Maiden discusses planning decisions related to The Green in the 2000s…

Back in the mid-1960s when I was in charge of PE at Lothingland Modern School, over the border in East Suffolk, I also taught a few English lessons. The headmaster knew from experience that the time comes when most PE teachers want to spend more time in the classroom and less time outdoors or in the gym.

By the time I was teaching more English than anything else at Hunstanton Secondary Modern, I had become very interested in something called the Humanities Curriculum Project. To cut a long story short, when I discovered the connection between this project and the Centre for Applied Research in Education (CARE) at the UEA in Norwich, it was only a matter of time before I obtained an MA in Education from the UEA. Now I find myself applying similar research methods when recording the history of the Hunstanton Society and its relationship with the local authority.

Starting somewhere close to the end of my last episode, 2004 was a busy year for the society, which was still called a Civic Society. On Friday May 4 2004, the Lynn News headline was: ‘Tremendous achievement for Civic Society - £18,700 clinches heritage trail bid.’ The story by Dave Bale explains that the grant came from the Countryside Agency and that work had already started on identifying places of interest, which would highlight Hunstanton's natural and built assets.

Society chairman Patrick Dodson said: "What is tremendous is that the civic society was only inaugurated in October 2002. We now have 200 members. We have got charitable status and a grant, which is quite an achievement after just 18 months."

Society member Linda Corby said: "The tight schedule for the completion of the trail means that plans for a heritage centre to house Hunstanton-related memorabilia have been put on hold."

On the same page, under Roy Williamson's photo of cars, there is a story of a car rally for charity on The Green. This ties in with a memo to someone in Planning, from someone in Legal Services, which was copied to me as an objector to a ticket office being erected on The Green. This was in the same bundle of press cuttings and emails from 2004.

"The Green - Planning Application 2/04/0573/CU: Parking of Motorcycles & Siting of Ticket Office. Further to your memorandum dated 14 April 2004, I enclose a copy of the relevant bylaws for your information, but please note that this only applies to the promenade and seashore. It does not include 'The Green'. Extension of the bylaws could be considered by Leisure, but it will be very long-winded, it cannot happen automatically. With regard to the deed dated 20 July 1955, the objector is quite right in that there is a restrictive covenant binding the council in relation to 'The Green'.

“When we purchased this land we covenanted with the Vendor that we would not allow anything to be done on The Green, which would cause nuisance to residents, inhabitants of Hunstanton and visitors. We also covenanted to keep The Green as an ornamental grass green only and would not allow any erections of permanent buildings on The Green. We also covenanted to maintain The Green as an open space and public recreation ground for the benefit of the inhabitants and visitors of Hunstanton.

“It would appear that if we allowed parking of motorcycles or siting of a ticket office, then we would be in breach of that restrictive covenant. We would have no defence if challenged as we have knowledge of these restrictive covenants. I hope this assists your enquiry, but if you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me."

Under the name of this legal executive there is a list of documents relevant to the motorcycles etc, which should have been compulsory reading for the planning officers who recommended approval of the application to erect a permanent structure on The Green, and the seven (out of 18) members of the Development Control Board in 2002 whose votes contributed to one of the worst planning decisions ever to be inflicted on my hometown. These are the documents.

- Structure Plan Policy ENV. 11: The Coast. Policy ENV.13: Historic Buildings, Archaeology & Historic Landscape.

- Local Plan Policy 4/12: Development in Conservation Areas; Policy 4/20: Areas to remain in Built Environment Policy 7/5: Holiday Development Zone. Policy 9/29: Planning Applications - General Considerations.

The reason for including everything in the memorandum copied to me from Legal Services, is because I do not want to be accused of cherry-picking the items that support the argument that the bigger the mistake, the greater the need to correct it for future generations.

As stated above, the restrictive covenant was imposed by the le Strange Estate when it sold The Green, together with much more land, to Hunstanton Urban District Council. To mark the seventieth anniversary of this event, in July it might be rather nice to celebrate the day with a party on The Green, at which representatives of the borough council could tell the beneficiaries of the covenant when The Green will become an ornamental grass Green once again, just as it was in 2002.