We put so much hope into the planning committee being able to see reason about why the yurt was necessary for us to carry out our biodiversity conservation management. We live in London, a 5 or 6 hour round journey. We have management activities we carry out at night and in the early hours of the morning. We are very disappointed with and saddened by the dreadful decision this month by the Broads Authority planning committee.
While there was sympathy from most of the members of the BA and much recognition that the benefits of the scheme outweighed any harm caused by the limited view of the yurt from the context, the application was still refused.
Once again we would like to say we really appreciated the sterling work by Councillor Eleanor Laming and Councillor James Knight. They managed to get our retrospective planning application heard by the planning committee, rather than just the BA planners. Councillor James Knight spoke strongly for us in the meeting and offered positive ways forward.
Several compromises were offered. We hoped that common sense would prevail and a way forward could be agreed on. Surely there should have been a way to make this happen! Many Norfolk conservationists, who have visited the site, are impressed with the amount of work we have done, and recognise the enormous amount of useful data recorded. UEA students will be carrying out research from February to July and local schools have been invited to use the site.
The Broads Authority feel the yurt is detrimental to the nature of the Broads and were determined not to budge. The vote was close so feel we must continue our work. We are now appealing to the Secretary of State, where we hope to get a fairer hearing.
Comments