The saga started some 2 years ago when it was spotted that some sort of security gates were being constructed to limit access past the Hall. A telephone call to North Norfolk District Council brought the response that they were aware of the situation and the gates being constructed would not proceed. However, this was not the case and electrically operated gates and bollards actuated by a remote control were implemented. I thought that although I was assured by the Council this would not happen, things had progressed and thus they were allowed. Even the construction of the gates was not straight forward. It is thought that the person who was engaged to install them was never paid resulting in a CCJ claim against Mr Gawn.
The gates caused some problems as local residents were not allowed one of the remote controllers thus for certain times of the day they were effectively denied access by car. This was particularly worrying as some residents in the Hall Yard are quite elderly and on one occasion an ambulance attended him. It is not only the gates which caused problems, so does some scaffolding but that is another matter detailed later.
The next happening was an e-mail informing me that planning permission had been sort on 15th May 2006, retrospectively, for the gates under the guise 'RETENTION OF STOCK-PROOF FENCING AND GATES' This was under reference PLA/ 20060772. The full trail up to 10 June is as follows :
Application Reference: This is the council reference number
for the planning application. Please quote this in any correspondence about
this planning application PLA / 20060772 - use this link to display all documents
associated with this planning reference.
Civil Parish Code: The Council reference for the Parish in which this application
resides ADM/CP067
Civil Parish Name: The name of the Parish in which this application resides
MELTON CONSTABLE
Proposal: A brief description of the development proposed by this application
RETENTION OF STOCK-PROOF FENCING AND GATES
Location: The location of the proposed development (eg. 'The House', 'The
Street', 'The Village') MELTON HALL MELTON PARK MELTON CONSTABLE
Applicant Name: This Data is withheld to protect the identify of the individual
applicant WITHHELD
Applicant Address: The postal address of the person(s) or organisation submitting
this application ESTATE OFFICE MELTON HALL MELTON PARK MELTON CONSTABLE NORFOLK
NR24 2NQ
Application Type: A description of the type of this application (eg. 'Full
Permission', 'Outline Permission', 'Listed Building Consent') Full Planning
Permission
Decision Level: The level within the Council at which the application decision
is made (Delegated to Officers or made by the Members of the Planning Committee).
The level of decision can be subject to change. DELEGATED
Status: The decision of the relevant planning authority in respect of this
planning application (eg. 'APPROVED', 'REFUSED' or 'PENDING') PENDING
Determining Authority: Indicates the planning authority that will determine
this application (eg. North Norfolk District Council, The Broads Authority)
NORTH NORFOLK DISTRICT COUNCIL
Officer Name: The name of the planning officer dealing with the application
(in the case of those with decisions pending), or the name of the team within
the planning department who will deal with any queries Mr M Gannon
Officer Telephone Number: A contact telephone number for the appropriate planning
officer for this application 01263 516150
Agent Name: The name of the agent acting on behalf of the applicant in matters
concerning this application if applicable DENIS TUTTLE ARCHITECT
Agent Address: The postal address of the agent acting on behalf of the applicant
in matters concerning this application 6 MILL HILL ROAD NORWICH NORFOLK NR2
3DP
Agent Telephone Number: The telephone number of the agent acting on behalf
of the applicant in matters concerning this application 01603 666140
Eastings: The easterly component of the grid reference of the application
603046
Northings: The northerly component of the grid reference of the application
332013
Date Received: The date on which this application was registered with the
council 15 May 2006
Site Notice Expiry Date: The neighbourhood around an application must be notified
of its existence, via a publicy displayed site notice and typically for a
period of three weeks, inviting comment from interested parties within the
allotted time period. This is the date that the p 14 June 2006
Press Advert Expiry Date: Certain applications, such as those affecting a
listed building, a conservation area, or requiring an environmental statement,
are advertised weekly in the local press, inviting comment within the allotted
period of time. This is the date that press adver 14 June 2006
Public Progress Trail: The date a specified entry was made in the public document
trail of this applicationThe description of correspondence or activity entries
in the public document trail of this application
Progress Trail Entry Date: 18 May 2006
Progress Trail Entry Description: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT - NORMAL
Progress Trail Entry Date: 18 May 2006
Progress Trail Entry Description: REGISTER ENTRY (PART 1)
Progress Trail Entry Date: 19 May 2006
Progress Trail Entry Description: CONSULT - PARISH - CLERK TO MELTON CONSTABLE
PARISH COUNCIL
Progress Trail Entry Date: 18 May 2006
Progress Trail Entry Description: CONSULT - ENGLISH HERITAGE
Progress Trail Entry Date: 18 May 2006
Progress Trail Entry Description: CONSULT - CONSERVATION AND DESIGN MANAGER
Progress Trail Entry Date: 18 May 2006
Progress Trail Entry Description: CONSULT - GARDEN HISTORY SOCIETY
Progress Trail Entry Date: 6 June 2006
Progress Trail Entry Description: ACK - INTERESTED PARTIES REPS - MR + MRS
WILSON
Progress Trail Entry Date: 14 June 2006
Progress Trail Entry Description: ACK - INTERESTED PARTIES REPS - K J CRASKE
It is interesting that the name of the applicant is withheld to protect his identiy.
A careful eye was being kept until happenings on 7th July 2006
Mr Michael Key regularly drives his lorry past the Hall to park it at night outside his property. He actually lives in the park, although not on land owned by Mr Gawn. He did however drive over Mr Gawn's land and had one of the electronic remote control's to operate the gates and bollards. There is another route for Mr Key could take but this would involve a considerable extra distance. At about 6.30 pm as he was returning as usual, Mr Gawn blocked his way with his red sports car telling the driver that the lorry wouldn't go there any more. The only result of this was the driver just locked his lorry and left it there. At some time, the sports car was removed and replaced with an untaxed van as seen in the photographs.