Kemp Pushes to Save Harding’s Pits East Side From 50 Homes

Campaigners in a Norfolk town are pushing for additional land to be shielded from housing development following a recent successful preservation effort according to Yahoo.

A seven-acre site, measuring 2.8 hectares, known as Harding’s Pits and situated beside the River Great Ouse in King’s Lynn, is set to be preserved after receiving village green status from the county council according to Yahoo. The Harding’s Pits Community Association spent the last 30 years campaigning to maintain the location as leisure space according to Yahoo.

Following this designation, the group is now seeking to extend the same protective measures to the east side of the area, which has been designated for as many as 50 homes under the local plan managed by King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council according to Yahoo. Independent Councillor Alexandra Kemp said that she is actively asking her authority to alter the local plan according to Yahoo.

“I want to protect the east side of Hardings Way as a village green. To take out the 50 houses earmarked for Harding's Pits east from the borough's local plan, and provide community sports facilities, more trees and places for wildlife instead,” Kemp said.

The local authority currently faces a government target to construct more than 10,000 new homes by 2040. Representatives for the borough council have been approached for comment regarding the expansion of the protected area according to Yahoo.

Harding’s Pits originated as a 19th-century clay pit before serving as a landfill, and was subsequently converted into a public space during the early 1960s according to Yahoo. At present, the property functions as a venue for dog walking and provides pedestrian access leading toward the King’s Lynn town centre according to Yahoo.