Go-ahead for two new homes in Gorefield near Wisbech

Fenland Council has given the go-ahead for the properties to be built on a grass paddock at Gorefield, near Wisbech.

The green light came despite an officer's warning the development on Gote Lane would lead to the loss of open countryside and a similar objection from Gorefield Parish Council.

Villagers supported the plans, with one saying they had known the applicants and their family for many years and had taught two of them while they were at the village primary school.

"It is wonderful to see former pupils wanting to return to the village to raise their own families close to where they grew up," they added. "That continuity is something very special in a rural community like Gorefield."

Another said: "Having lived in the the village for more than 40 years, I feel it is important to encourage younger families to move to the area to help sustain local services and amenities."

Gorefield Primary Academy, which has just under 100 pupils, said it had space for more children and new homes would bring more families to its catchment area.

It said: "This would strengthen the school's longterm viability and enable us to maintain a broad curriculum, retain staffing levels, and provide a wider range of opportunities and experiences for pupils."

A planning statement said: "The occupants would be the third and fourth generation of the family to live in the village, hoping to settle their children into the nursery and primary school.

"Being young working families, they would seek to make use of the local amenities such as the butchers, shop and pub to sustain the flourishing local community."

It added there would be "adequate green space around the site" and a new hedgerow would be planted around it.