RELIEVED campaigners are hailing as “a victory for common sense” a proposal to remove Waveney Forest from a long-list of potential quarry sites around the county.

RELIEVED campaigners are hailing as “a victory for common sense” a proposal to remove Waveney Forest from a long-list of potential quarry sites around the county.

Norfolk County Council revealed this week it had red-listed proposals for development at Fritton under a traffic light system where green means go and red means stop.

It means the quarry plan is unlikely to go ahead in its present form although it has not been withdrawn and the applicant could yet contest the council's assessment.

On the waste disposal side, other sites in the Great Yarmouth area - including one at Burgh Castle - have been given an amber rating, marking them as potential sites for development, but not in their current form.

At Fritton campaigners hope the document, due to be signed off by the powerful cabinet on Monday, will bring to an end years of robust opposition to save the amenity woodland, a popular walking spot close to the wildlife-rich Broads with a wealth of wartime history.

Keith Nunn, chairman of Fritton Parish Council, said: “The planners' recommendations have yet to be ratified by the cabinet and any anticipation of the outcome would be premature.

“But we are of course delighted at the prospective outcome and believe it would be a victory for common sense. It has taken a tremendous amount of work locally to present the case that we did and I am so grateful for the driving force of the Action Committee and my council members.”

“It remains to be considered and ratified by the Norfolk County Council Cabinet next week and we await their decision on this important matter.”

Yarmouth MP Tony Wright said: “I was always confident this site would be inappropriate and am pleased the correct decision appears to have been made. I now urge the county councillors at the next committee stage to follow the recommendation of the officers that this site is unsuitable.

“Fritton Woods is, and should remain a beautiful part of our countryside and I applaud Keith Nunn and everybody involved in this campaign, for all the hard work and efforts in this matter. I hope the uncertainty that has clouded this issue has now reached its conclusion.'

A spokesman for Norfolk County Council warned this week that it was not the final decision on the sites but that the news was as good as it could be at this stage for those opposing the plans.

The next round of consultation that campaigners and the tens of thousands of people who put their name to petition hope will end the plans for good begins on October 26.