From Village to Suburb

The 1964 Belton Plan

In 1964 East Suffolk County Council published an outline development plan for Belton. Development was necessary due to the demand for housing in the area. Also it would benefit Belton as its market gardens were in decline and an increasing number of its inhabitants were now travelling to work in Great Yarmouth.

The plan proposed new estates of houses, open spaces, shops and social amenities. Belton would be developed in relation to Great Yarmouth which was seen as the main centre for employment and shopping. There would be new roads and road improvements.

A new primary school was envisaged and Lothingland Council wanted to include an ambulance station and health centre. Most of the development would take place on the 120 acres of land in the centre of Belton, bounded by its main roads.

A new 'spine road', an extension of New Road, would give primary access into the development with roads feeding off it. Existing village roads would be adapted and a footpath system created. From 1900 to 1950 the population had hovered just above 800. The population was now planned to increase from 800 to 3400. Belton would no longer be a small village.

At the same time Holmes started work on a major sewage scheme for Belton which was necessary for the plan to go ahead. The Ministry of Housing and Local Government helped fund this project with grants of £3000 a year for 30 years. The scheme came into operation in April 1965. Even with the new development it was not until 1969 that East Suffolk County Council started to introduce 30 mph speed limits. For years Belton had campaigned for this.

In the early 1970's new roads appeared. Breydon Close and Paddock Close were named in 1971 and in 1972, St David's Close, Yare Road and Deben Road. Also in 1972 one of Belton's two Marsh Lanes was renamed Rivers Way. Because of the new developments a Parish Map was sited at Ranworth Close.

There was a national tree planting campaign in 1973, ('Plant a tree in '73'), and as part of that, trees were planted in Ranworth Close and Deben Drive. Also in 1973 the former barn of Elm Grove Farm at the corner of Church Lane and New Road, was converted into a restaurant. This was an almost symbolic development for Belton as it left its rural past behind.

In 1976 the name Bramble Gardens was approved, Station Roads North and South were numbered as it was getting difficult to deliver the mail, and the Parish Council requested the demolition of the old railway station. The rapid population growth, with a relatively young age structure, put pressure on local facilities and services. In 1971 most Beltonians were under 35.

With an increasing population Belton needed a new school. The old Victorian school had been enlarged several times but was not adequate nor did it have the facilities expected in a modern school. In 1967 East Suffolk County Council turned down a request for water closets to be installed as a new school was 'in the offing'. The toilets were still 'privvies' and a 'cess pit'. The smell of the latter being emptied caused the PTA to complain.

In 1968 after the necessary permissions had been received, including the agreement of two successive annual Parish Meetings, 1.93 acres of the Belton playing field was sold. The land was bought by East Suffolk Education Committee and the new primary school built on it. In September 1969 Waveney School opened. The remainder of the playing field remained with the Parish Council. The proceeds from the site and the Playing Field Committee's funds were passed to the Parish Council and deposited in the same account. In 1984 a children's playground was created in the remainder of the field which is still used as a park. Over the last 20 years or so a site for a new playing field has been sought. At present a site on the north side of New Rd on the Belton/Bradwell border is being considered but no final decision has been agreed.

The 1977 South-West Area Plan

In 1974 boundary changes brought Belton into the Borough of Great Yarmouth and the County of Norfolk. In 1977/78 Norfolk County Council and Great Yarmouth Borough Council adopted a 'South West Area Local Plan' to replace the 1964 Belton Plan. This covered the development of Belton and the surrounding areas to the end of the century.

The earlier road plan was modified. The extension of New Rd (the 'spine road') from Bracon Rd to the site of the old station would not now be completed. Station Roads North and South would remain joined and not be split into two cul-de-sacs as the earlier plan had intended. A new community centre was included with the middle school then being built. The existing primary school would become a first school. The new school, Breydon Middle School, was opened on 23 April 1979 by James Prior, Lowestoft's MP.

By 1981 most of the development of Belton was complete and the following decade only another 125 houses were built. Further developments would be mainly infilling and must not harm existing buildings or the environment. The landscaped areas of open space intended in the 1960's were not created but the 1977 plan tried to protect what open land with recreational or amenity value did exist.

Belton's two caravan, chalet and tent sites, with accommodation for 500 were seen to make an important contribution to the Borough's tourist industry. The new plan discouraged their change of use. Local industry was sited away from Belton at the Gapton Hall and Harfreys Estates. These were largely built up in the 1980's.

On 6th June 1977 a village sign for Belton was unveiled by Lord Somerleyton. It was designed by Henry Carter of Swaffham and depicts John Ives the antiquarian, wearing his Suffolk Herald's tabard. Beneath him are the Ives coat of arms, on either side of which are emblems representing market gardening. Behind the figure of Ives is Belton Church and some cottages. The sign was paid for by Parish Councillor John T. Berry who sadly died before its completion.

1977 was also the Silver Jubilee year of the Queen. However, it was decided not to have a 'Jubilee' road in Belton. The following year Moorland Way, Grove Close and Broome Gardens were all approved. Sunley and Fern Gardens were approved in 1981.

Between 1960 and 1975 Belton's population grew more rapidly than at any time in its history, from 800 in 1960 to 1,870 in 1971and to 3,000 in 1975. In that time 404 new houses were built, 1972 being the peak year with 116 completed. By 1977 of the 48.6 hectares approved for development in the Belton plan, 37 had been developed. In 1998 its estimated population was 4,275.

While Belton village has developed greatly, neighbouring Browston seems to have changed less. A sand pit was opened there, the noise from which brought some complaints, but there have been no large scale developments. But Browston is no longer a hamlet of farms, market gardens and cottages. Very few of the inhabitants work on the land and many of its houses are now 'desirable residences'. In 1978 Browston Hall became part of a sports and leisure centre. After being run as a restaurant for a time the Hall is a private residence again.

In the second half of the twentieth century Belton went from a small village with a rural character to become a suburb of Great Yarmouth. It is no longer self-contained but relies on the adjacent areas for work, leisure, education and amenities to a greater or lesser extent. There is still a large minority of people in the Belton parish who remember it as it was. There are also reminders in the pattern of the old roads, the road names, the sprinkling of old buildings. It is also still possible, I believe, when walking along Church Lane or St Johns Rd, when the hedges and trees are in leaf, to catch a glimpse of what Belton was once like.