Brancaster Staithe: Sailing school to be demolished for new homes

An old sailing school is to be demolished and replaced with two new homes after a council approved plans.

Sailcraft Sea School in Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk, closed in December 2018, with developers arguing the site was "not fit for purpose for modern commercial use".

The parish council said it would prefer the buildings to remain commercial, but West Norfolk Borough Council approved the proposed new houses.

Plans were passed by a majority vote.

Borough councillors said they were satisfied by the evidence of "non-viability", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Developer Langton Homes' plans show that each home will have two bedrooms and two parking spaces, revised from an initial proposal for three bedrooms and three allocated parking spaces.

Councillors visited the proposed site this week before taking an 11 to one vote in favour of the new homes proposal.

Independent opposition leader Terry Parish said the site had been marketed to commercial renters at about £50,000 a year and £1,000 a week - making it too expensive to be a viable business concern.

"It's very unfortunate that this [is a] prime site, close to the quay, suitable for commercial use, which Brancaster needs - and it certainly doesn't need second homes, or holiday homes, it's got plenty of those.

"So it's very unfortunate and I sympathise with the parish council who want to do the best for their village," he said.

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