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”.
