Plans to build houses on woodland 'devastating'

A campaigner has described plans to build homes on a piece of woodland as "devastating".

The proposals would see 70 new properties built on the land off East Anglian Way in Gorleston-On-Sea.

A petition to stop the plans has gained over 800 signatures and the support of Great Yarmouth's Reform MP Rupert Lowe.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council said the plans would help to "meet the housing and economic development needs" of the area.

Jessica Rodgers, 30, lives near the woodland and walks her dog through it daily.

"This is a beautiful woodland, it doesn't need to be built on," she said.

"With all the woodlands that are all getting ripped away, what's going to be left for future generations?"

Alongside the petition, Ms Rodgers started a Facebook group advising people how to share their comments on the proposal.

She said the amount of support her campaign had received was "surprising".

"We've had a huge amount of positive feedback from everybody," she said.

"I've had the support of Rupert Lowe, and I plan to have meetings with him next week.

"Hopefully we're going to try and get something done with the land and not build on it."

A spokesperson for the council described the woodland as "overgrown and untidy".

"It is owned by the council and has remained vacant since the removal of allotments more than 30 years ago and was first zoned for development in the 2001 Borough-Wide Local Plan," they said.

Comments can be made on the proposal until Friday 31 January.

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