Harding's Pits under threat
Four years after it agreed to a 25 year arrangement for Harding's Pits to be managed as a Doorstep Green, King's Lynn borough council wants the land back.The council says that it needs to divert the River Nar across the Green and to build houses and flats on the area of the green to the north. There has been a vague suggestion of an alternative site for another green (but not a Doorstep Green) further up the Nar.
A brief history of Harding's Pits:
* In the 12th to 14th centuries, the Green was among the lands of the Whitefriars, the Carmelite monks whose monastery gate still stands only a few yards away on the edge of the Friars area.
* In the 16th century the site formed part of the defences of the walled town.
* Later, the Green boasted a variety of industries, from brick kilns to timber yards and market gardens.
* During the First World War it was used to graze horses requisitioned by the army from farms all over Norfolk.
* In the 20th century it became one of the town's rubbish dumps, before falling into disuse.
* In the mid-1990's the green was rescued from development as a supermarket.
If you are interested in signing a petition to save the green, visit the Harding's Pits Doorstep Green Website
A public meeting is planned to let the public have their say on the council plans to divert the Nar through Harding's Pits to allow them to build a housing estate. It will take place at Whitefriars School on June 12th at 7.30pm. Attendance is open to all, and may be the public's last chance to influence council opinion before the formal planning process begins.
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