Activists celebrate as land given protected status

Campaigners who have been trying to stop the development of a town's green space have celebrated it being given "village green status" by a council.

Harding's Pits, seven acres of land beside the River Great Ouse in King's Lynn, had previously been earmarked for a housing development and a supermarket before the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk applied to Norfolk County Council for the status.

The Harding's Pits Community Association Group has campaigned for the past 30 years to keep the area as a leisure space.

Rick Morrish, 64, the director of the group, said it was a "really great decision... we've struggled to get the village green status for 30 years".

The application was considered by Norfolk County Council's Planning (Regulatory) Committee on Tuesday.

Morrish told Chris Goreham on BBC Radio Norfolk that "this year's administration got right behind" the cause and it would "give more legal status to protect the site... we're safeguarding it as a public open space".

Alexandra Kemp, an Independent councillor at the borough council, said she has held nine public events in favour of keeping Harding's Pits as a space for nature.

"After the long campaign that we fought since 2017 with residents to stop the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk putting traffic on Harding's Way, the borough council's support is very important and now protects all of Harding's Pits west of Harding's Way," she said.

Kemp also campaigned with residents in July against a new car park that the borough council sought to build next to Harding's Pits.

Morrish said the Harding's Pits Association Group was formed in 2004, adding that the green space was originally a clay pit in the 19th Century, before being used as a landfill site.

"There is actually rubbish underneath the site," he added.

Harding's Pits was then turned into a public space in the early 1960s.

The site is currently used for dog walking, accessing King's Lynn town centre, picking fruit such as blackberries and for bird and wildlife spotting, Morrish said.

He told the BBC that "a hundred species of birds" had been recorded there and it was home to "three or four regular reptile residents, including a lot of lizards" who had enjoyed the warm temperatures this year.

"Within the town, this is quite a rare asset to have and that's why we think it's so important," he added.

He said the site has grown over the years, with a new community orchard and a national art project, where artists have planted a circle of oak trees.

Michael de Whalley, the cabinet member for climate change and biodiversity on Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, said: "This is very welcome news for South Lynn and an important final step in a journey that the community has been pursuing for at least 30 years."

He added that local people valued and enjoyed places such as Harding's Pits and surrounding green spaces, where habitats could flourish.

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