Burnham Market parish chair refuses to resign over comments

Dennis Clark has been banned from a string of businesses in Burnham Market and is facing calls to step down from his role on the parish council, following comments attributed to him by a newspaper.

Tim Roberts, who owns NoTwenty9 restaurant and three shops next door, is leading the charge, while other traders also say Mr Clark is not welcome on their premises.

Business owner Tim Roberts is calling for Dennis Clark's resignation from the parish council at Burnham Market (Image: Tim Roberts)

Mr Roberts is calling on Mr Clark to resign by midnight on February 29 and threatening to call a parish meeting to oust him if he doesn't.

But retired oil industry worker Mr Clark, 77, said: "My resignation is being called for without justification. It feels like a witch hunt is being organised. I shall not resign because I have done nothing wrong.

"The parish clerk has received an e-mail from Tim saying if I don't resign by tomorrow they're going to call a parish meeting.

Burnham Market Parish Council chairman Dennis Clark says he is the victim of a witch-hunt in the village (Image: Chris Bishop)

"I'm an elected parish councillor, nominated as chairman by the parish council and as far as I'm aware, he has no standing in the village that could make me resign.

"With all the pressure on my wife and I, it might be easier to just throw the towel in but why should I be bullied out of it?" 

Mr Clark said the impact on his wife, Debbie, had been "dreadful".

NoTwenty9 and the NoThirty3 Bakery nest door are two of the businesses which have banned Mr Clark (Image: Chris Bishop)

"She feels that she can't walk in the village, that there's going to be a feeling of hatred," he said.

Mr Clark said he had been shopping in Burnham Market without any issues since the news broke he would be banned by some shopkeepers.

"My wife and I don't tend to use - and I hesitate to use the words - tourist shops because they don't sell what we need, but we do buy what we need day-to-day in the village."

Burnham Market is known as Chelsea-on-Sea because of the number of Londoners who own second homes in the North Norfolk village (Image: Chris Bishop)

Mr Clark claims he was misrepresented by the Times newspaper, which on Friday quoted him as saying there was a “genuine hatred” for second home owners among some villagers.

The remarks prompted anger among business owners, with Mr Roberts saying the village famed for its upmarket eateries and independent boutiques would die without the money second homers and holidaymakers bring in.

He described Mr Clark's comments as "incendiary and uncalled for".

Traders in Burnham market say they could not survive without the money weekenders and holidaymakers bring to the village (Image: Matthew Usher)

Mr Roberts confirmed he had given the parish council a deadline for Mr Clark's resignation and a parish meeting would be held if he did not.

He said while the meeting did not have the power to force his resignation, he hoped it might "focus the minds" of the parish council.

Mr and Mrs Clark live on the same leafy lane as Mr Roberts, in a home they built after having the 1930s property which stood on the site demolished four years ago.

Dennis Clark says he downsized to Burnham Market when he retired three years ago (Image: Chris Bishop)

Mr Clark said they had previously lived in Thornham for 15 years and decided to move to Burnham Market to "downsize" on commencing their retirement.

The village is one of a number of coastal communities which have voted to adopt neighbourhood plans stipulating any new property must be a principal residence, where someone lives full time.

They include Heacham, Old Hunstanton, Holme and Blakeney, forming an almost unbroken line along 30 miles of the Norfolk coastline.

Locals fear the boom in second homes and holiday lets has driven up house prices, caused a shortage of rented properties and "hollowed-out" communities.