Sometimes the National Trust does listen to local people

The temporary toilets have been on the site for over ten years

A National Trust member in Norfolk writes,

Objecting does work...

In July 2024 the National Trust made a planning application in respect of a proposed development at Morston Quay in North Norfolk.

This was done with the bare minimum of consultation with the local community, and completely ignoring the feedback they had. The application met with an enormous wave of objections posted onto the North Norfolk District Council's planning portal, but also in writing to many senior staff of the Trust itself.

The objections were to the inappropriate scale, nature and purpose of the development, and in protest at the lack of consultation prior to the application itself and the appalling mismanagement of Morston Quay and other NT sites on the Norfolk Coast over the past 15 years.

It was exceptionally difficult to get anything but anodyne responses from the Trust itself, and they appeared to be sticking to their guns, in September 2025 they said to the Eastern Daily Press  ‘The National Trust is not withdrawing its proposals to provide visitors to Morston Quay with adequate and accessible toilet facilities,’ and ‘We are proceeding as planned with the planning application to replace the existing toilet facilities with a new single-storey toilet block, which would include a small welfare and office space for staff and volunteers, as well as other improvements to the accessibility of footpaths and the surface of the car park.’ Both paragraphs were misleading, to say the least. The first failed to mention the retention the existing toilet block or the other facilities that they propose to add. The toilets themselves represented only 40% of the footprint of the proposed development. The second  referred to a ‘small’ welfare and office space, not mentioning the visitor reception, plant room and store in the new building. Taken together these items are one third bigger than the toilets alone.

The letter writing and formal objections continued, over 400 responses were posted on the NNDC planning portal, which I suspect is a record by some margin, 98% of them were objections, and in May 2025 they withdrew the application.

The National Trust’s planning application drew a large number of objections from local people

A new management team for the North Norfolk and Broads area has been appointed and in September 2025 they presented new plans to the local community, and in due course will make a new planning application. At first glance the new plans are a significant improvement, both in reduced scale and limitation of the purpose of the buildings, but there will still be some significant issues to sort out. The new management team has made a good start in meeting local people and listening to what they have to say about the mistakes of the past and how they would like the Trust to look after their assets in future.

I hope, but sadly do not yet trust, that we are seeing a welcome change in the attitude and approach of the National Trust in their dealings with the communities surrounding their properties. If they are beginning to realise that the land and buildings they own are not corporate assets to be sweated for cash, but shared treasures of landscape and cultural history, then perhaps a restoration of trust is underway...