War between locals and second residence homeowners in magnificence spot intensifies

The tensions between locals and second home owners in one of the UK’s most popular holiday regions have been laid bare in a poll which found deep-rooted ‘us and them’ issues.

Some 45 per cent of respondents to the survey in the pretty hamlet of Burnham Overy Staithe said they were unhappy with the current mix of housing, complaining wealthy outsiders price locals out of the market.

They also expressed concerns about problems in the busy summer months when there is congestion on the narrow streets, speeding drivers and inconsiderate parking.

Meanwhile, during winter months, there are concerns that the lack of permanent residents creates a ‘death village’ as fewer than 30 per cent of the 216 properties are constantly in use.

The pretty settlement – where Admiral Lord Nelson learned to row and sail a dinghy – is in north Norfolk, where a string of communities on a 30-mile stretch of coastline have conducted similar surveys and subsequently held referendums on local plans in which residents overwhelmingly voted to end the influx of wealthy ‘townies’.

Measures have included bans on selling newbuilds to those who won’t use them as primary residences and blocking builders from erecting developments that will have a detrimental impact on the area.

A report on the study, which was commissioned by the parish council, stated respondents had written about ‘disliking the divisions in the community – including comments about a sense of tension, bad feelings, unpleasantness, and an ‘us and them’ divide between people who live in Burnham Overy all-year round and those who visit or own property in the parish they do not live in full time’.

The full picture of despair felt by locals is likely to have been concealed by the survey, however, because only a third of respondents live in the village.

Some 26 per cent were second home owners who use them for more than four months a year, 21 per cent used their holiday investments less than four months per year, and one per cent owned a holiday let. Just under a fifth didn’t disclose their connection to the parish.

When MailOnline visited the hamlet, locals were split between those who bemoaned the loss of atmosphere since friends and family had fled to more affordable locations and those who said the holidaymakers brought money to the area.

Business owners echoed the sentiments – and even second home owners and holidaymakers had sympathy for the situation.

Retired hairdresser and shopkeeper Jennifer Raven, 69, who lives in a council house with her husband Graham, 72, a retired gardener, said: ‘My son has split from his wife and he’s desperate for accommodation. He lives here with us. He just cannot find an affordable home.

‘It’s terrible. A lot of local people have had to move out of the village simply because they cannot afford the houses and there are no rentals. We’re the only rented house up this row.

‘We don’t know any of the people in the village anymore. You used to be able to walk down the road and talk to everybody. Now you walk down the road and you don’t know anybody. In the winter, it’s just a death village.’

Widow Peggy Sizeland, 84, a retired nurse who lives in a bungalow in the village, said: ‘I think we have to have the second home-owners because they bring in work. Where this area used to be farming there’s no longer any work on the fields.

‘The problems they [the holidaymakers] bring is cars. We’ve even had people parking down this road so people can’t park outside their own houses. The tourists come all year around. Winter and summer.

‘Most of them are very nice. You do get the odd family who couldn’t care less about other people.

‘The older people who have always come down here are lovely. It’s the younger people, their grandchildren, who come down and look at us. They can be arrogant.’

Roy, 74, who was born in Burnham Overy Staithe and has lived there all his life, said he and his wife bought their council house there some years ago.

‘I have seen life change as it does everywhere. The sad thing is there’s not many youngsters in the village. If they leave to go to university they never come back here,’ he added.

‘When I was a child, every council house had children in it. Plus, other people in the village had kids. There were gangs of us. We used to play football on the field. There are only one or two kids here now. You see them going to school at the bus stop.

‘Local people cannot afford property in the village. I was lucky enough because Maggie Thatcher let us buy our council house but sadly there’s not enough.

‘I do not object to second home owners being here. It gives a little bit of work as gardeners and key holders. But if any young couples come to the village their children cannot stay in the village when they grow up.’

Among the business owners was Tim Plunkett, 58, a woodworker whose pieces sell locally and can also be found in Fortnum and Mason in London.

He said: ‘Most of our customers are second home owners. We show local artists and they’re quite established artists who sell in London and New York. They sell all over the place.

‘We know that the coastline is populated with wealthy people who are established here or who are on holiday.

‘A little while ago, today, I sold one of the Tydd pots for £600 to a couple on holiday who bought it on the spur of the moment.’

Juliette Short, 59, brings her ice cream van to the village in the summer months, continuing a business established by her father 50 years ago.

She said: ‘I have been coming her for 40 plus years. It’s not as busy as it used to be. If it gets full up on a sunny day people think it’s very busy but it’s not.

‘The second home owners are not the answer to everything but they are here and it is what it is.

‘It’s difficult for local people who want to live here because they work here.’

Ella Rogers, 20, who works at The Hero pub and lives in neighbouring Burnham Market, said she wasn’t able to live in the hamlet because the rents are ‘extortionate’.

She added: ‘My opinion is that if you want to enjoy this part of the country, stay in a hotel rather than have a holiday home which you only stay in for six weeks of the year.

‘That’s what people do. It’s such a waste. And they call themselves locals, which annoys the people around here.

‘Generally, they [the second home owners] are lovely people. But there is this entitlement with people expecting things like, for example, a local discount.

‘To us, locals are the people who are here throughout the winter, who are established.’

The daughter of a second home owner, who didn’t want to be named, described how her family lived in the village for most of the year but she couldn’t afford her own place.

The 19-year-old said: ‘Obviously, I understand that there are quite a few second home owners. It can cause a little bit of tension.

‘I will probably live at home as long as possible because of the prices [of homes]. I’d have to move away to somewhere where it’s not so expensive.’

Former soldier Robin Gamble, 84, who was staying in a holiday let with his wife Patricia, said: ‘I have been coming here since 1953, in order to sail.

‘When I first came here in the 1950s there was no such thing as ‘second home owners’. It’s a new phrase. People could not afford a second home in 1953.

‘The second home owners and holidaymakers bring money. They use the restaurants and cafes which wouldn’t get custom otherwise.’

Engineer Louie Weabel, 28, who lives in Switzerland and was also staying in a holiday let with his girlfriend, said they had been coming to the area for seven years.

Asked if the high proportion of holiday lets in the area was a good thing, he said: ‘It depends on how many weeks of the year they’re rented out. It’s not very nice for people living here permanently if the houses don’t have full capacity.

He admitted many businesses in the area rely on tourism, adding: ‘We use the restaurants, we do some of the local activities, like kite surfing and seal watching. We rent boats and paddle boards.’

The study, which was based on 138 responses, will be used to assist drawing up a neighbourhood plan for the village – following in the footsteps of neighbouring communities including Burnham Market, Wells-next-the-Sea and Old Hunstanton.

Parish clerk Sarah Raven said: ‘Our neighbourhood plan is in the early stages at the moment but we are hoping to get everything done with a year and get to a referendum perhaps by the end of March next year.’