An appeal has been lodged amid a battle between locals and a heavy machinery training company over the use of land in a Norfolk village.

DAK Plant Training Ltd had lodged plans to use the land off The Turn in Hevingham as a training ground with Broadland District Council in December 2023.

Those plans ,which involved training prisoners, were refused by the council - leading the applicant to appeal that planning decision.

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A planning document said that the company made the application because “it is helping the Shaw Trust to re-habilitate offenders ready for release from prison.”

It says: “Traditionally most training is conducted on construction sites in the surrounding area, however on this occasion it is approached by companies and individuals who don’t have access to an area to train on.

“Recent activity has been to train individuals to help them get back into work for Clarion Housing.”

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The site plansThe site plans (Image: Broadland District Council)

However, the plans were met with backlash from local objections over noise, pollution and potential damage. 

One objection had said: "It would be woefully inadequate.

"For all residential homes around the site, it will be like living on a permanent building site with constant noise, dust and inconvenience, impacting on our daily lives."

Another had said: "The current status of the paddock is agricultural, which allows any activity of up to 28 days in a calendar year.

"DAK has been operating for well over a year and has more than doubled the amount of days allowed in 2023, which has caused the most intolerable amount of noise, dust and inconvenience and is nothing less than torture."

Permission was refused by the Broadland District Council earlier this year in May. 

However, DAK has now lodged an appeal to fight the council's decision.