The Little Wittering chapter of NIMBYs of Britain is celebrating this week after the district council refused, for the ninth and what the chapter insists will be the final time, an application to build a bus shelter on the village green.
The proposed shelter, a three-sided timber structure measuring 2.4 metres by 1.2, was first put forward in 2012 by the parish council after a resident's mother "got very wet". The chapter lodged 214 objections against the original application and a further 1,800 against the eight revised versions, which at various points removed the roof, the bench, the sides and, in 2021, the bus stop.
We have nothing against people waiting for buses. We simply don't see why they need to do it dry. This village has waited for buses in the rain since 1839 and it hasn't done us any harm. It's character-building. It's the character of the area.Cynthia Mould, N.O.B., Chapter Secretary
Chapter members cited traffic, the setting of the green, light pollution from a proposed timetable and the risk that a shelter would "only encourage buses". Dr Barnaby Slough, the association's Head of Newts, submitted a report suggesting the shelter's footings could disturb a great crested newt, though he conceded under questioning that the green is "fairly dry" and "on a hill".
The council's planning officer described the final design as "unimposing, modest and frankly quite nice", to which Mrs Mould replied: "That is exactly the sort of thing they'd say."
A victory party was held at the bus stop on Wednesday afternoon. It was cancelled after twenty minutes due to weather. Members retreated to the village hall, which was built in 1974 over the chapter's objections and which they now describe as "part of the setting".
The bus service is due to be withdrawn in October because of low passenger numbers. The chapter has lodged an objection.