A SCHEME to preserve the historic look of a picturesque Broadland village has finally been ditched - five years after it was first suggested.When the plans to create conservation zone in Stokesby, near Yarmouth were mooted it divided the village into pro and anti camps.

A SCHEME to preserve the historic look of a picturesque Broadland village has finally been ditched - five years after it was first suggested.

When the plans to create conservation zone in Stokesby, near Yarmouth were mooted it divided the village into pro and anti camps.

Anti zone protestors were celebrating on Friday after the Broads Authority decided to abandon the preservation project, which would have seen restrictions placed on knocking down or extending buildings, lopping trees and installing satellite dishes.

Earlier this year a special meeting in the village saw 62 of residents vote against the zone proposals, which had first been suggested by the parish council in 2004.

Trevor Barber, who lobbied against the zone said: “When the residents of Stokesby were eventually allowed to vote on this issue they voted in significant numbers against the proposal. This was a great victory for democracy over bureaucratic dogma.”

Broads Authority members were told by Ben Hogg, the head of cultural design and heritage, that the zone should be rejected because of public opposition.

In a report to the planning committee he said: “That, given the significant majority of public opinion against the designation and the formal Parish Council response accepting the majority view, the Authority abandons the proposal to designate a new conservation area at Stokesby with Herringby.”