Furious villagers in a seaside beauty spot have accused their local council of ‘asset stripping’ after it announced plans to sell off the land beneath their beach huts.
Owners also complained the proposed auction would leave the site in private hands, leaving it at risk of ‘prohibitive costs and commercial redevelopment’ in future.
An officer’s report on the plan, which reveals the local authority could net a £450,000 windfall, provoked further anger after one of the reasons for the decision was ‘to avoid… a reputational risk to the council’.
Details of the sale of the 105 huts in Heacham, Norfolk – some of which have been in families’ hands for generations - emerged months after the council was accused of ‘greed’ following a 37 per cent increase in annual ground rents in just three years, which was reported in the Mail.
Owners have now formed an association to fight the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk and ‘do whatever it takes to keep the coastline in public hands, where it belongs’.
