ARRANGEMENTS were being made at Norton 40 years ago for a meeting to enable villagers from both Norton and Lenchwick to hear the case for a gipsy caravan site at Hipton Hill.

The Journal of 1971 reported: “The meeting has been arranged by Mr W R Scurfield, clerk to Worcestershire County Council, in co-operation with Evesham Rural District Council. County officials will discuss it with parish councillors beforehand.

“Mr W R Hardiman, clerk to the parish council, said that ever since the county council decided upon Hipton Hill as a permanent site for gipsy caravans, the parish council had pressed for a public meeting. ‘We thought they were going to bulldoze all this through,’ he said. ‘But they assured us some time ago that they would give villagers the chance to air their views. I think that quite a few people will be going, and no doubt there will be some objections.’ “The meeting will provide a platform for officers of the county council to tell the villagers what the plan would involve. Villagers will then be invited to give their views, in writing, to the county council before a final decision on the matter is taken.

“Mr Hardiman said that one of the main worries of villagers was that a sudden influx of children from the caravans would have adverse effects on the village school.

“The school is very small and takes in only 53 pupils. There is room for more but, if an average of two children per caravan attended it might have a swamping effect.

“An assurance is also wanted from the county council that the provision of the site will mean the end of caravans being parked on the roadside verges.”

The plans for the site were eventually passed and the plot is still there today.