High Court injunction reposted on Thriplow Heath land

I mobilised South Cambs Planning Enforcement Officers this morning after alert residents at Thriplow Heath spotted people and vehicles on the land running alongside the A505 that is subject to a High Court injunction.
We obtained the injunction three years ago to stop any unlawful occupation of the land, and it remains in force to this day.The planning officers reposted the injunction notice on the entrance to the field, before leaving.
We believe the travellers now at Royston may be moved on imminently, and with the Easter long week-end coming up, a field by the A505 with no power or sanitation would not be good for them, nor for us. South Cambs has used these preventive injunctions effectively in several areas. The point about them is that the police can take immediate action to remove people, if needs be. 

Dale Farm - judge says council's enforcement plans too wide

Just been reading the judgment given by the judge hearing the arguments in the High Court about whether the Dale Farm evictions can go ahead. Basically he ruled that what Basildon Council intended to do by way of demolition (gates, walls etc) goes beyond what is set out in the enforcement notices served on the travellers between 2002 and 2004. The complexity is around the relationship between stuff built on the hard-standing that was the subject of the enforcement notices. Caravans are a different issue.

So a further hearing this week and maybe more detailed enforcement notices may have to be re-issued - who knows. As always, the devil is in the detail.

The road even less well travelled....

The Dale Farm impasse continues, with the High Court looking to make a decision at the end of this week, a fortnight after the clearance of the unlawful bit of the traveller site in Basildon was due.

It is a very complex legal process, and an expensive one, and the consequences with regard to law on planning enforcement will be extensive.

So far, no reports of unlawful incursions onto Smithy Fen or elsewhere in South Cambs after a few initial reports. Police liaison being kept up and enforcement team also active in checking any likely places.

The road less travelled...

Been a bit busy last few days because the proposed eviction of travellers from a site in Basildon has created quite a bit of media interest locally. This is because of the potential knock-on effect for the traveller site at Smithy Fen.

Since May I took on the planning portfolio at South Cambs, including enforcement of planning laws. Which is where this all kicks in, because if people move on to Smithy Fen - or anywhere else for that matter - without planning permission, then that is an unlawful occupancy.

moorfield road, junction of A505 (3)

Following further calls from Whittlesford residents early this morning, I asked the district planning enforcement team to check out this site, which they promptly did, at about ten o'clock.

The gate across the entrance has been knocked over and the owners are being told to put it back up. Residents of Whittlesford are very concerned that the property will be unlawfully occupied.

At the same time, I'm told by the county highways people that the owners are seeking planning permission for houses there (ie running along the same line as what is now Knight's Orchard.)

moorfield road, junction of A505 (again)

The enforcement team at South Cambs has visited this site at the border of Whittlesford and Duxford twice now and checked with the neighbours on what it is that is going on.
I took calls yesterday evening about two vans trying to gain access to the site yesterday morning - so I called the enforcement team again, and I followed up by visiting people nearby today.
The enforcement team (bless them) happened to be on the A505 yesterday when all this malarky was going on. So they pulled in and spoke to the people accessing the land. It may be that, in order to prevent any form of unlawful occupation, the lawyers need to be mobilised and an injunction sought. Not easy, and a lot of hassle, but maybe necessary.
I'll also get a briefing from the planning officers on the bigger picture.

moorfield road, junction of A505

This patch of land right on the corner of Moorfield and the A505 in Whittlesford seems to have been cleared by someone, very recently. Not aware of a planning application. Need to get the district council's planning enforcement in to have a closer look.
I've asked them to visit asap.

Planning decisions

Long day with South Cambs Planning Committee today, starting with site visits in the morning to see "on the ground" some of the applications on which we took decisions in the afternoon. Today we went to Bassingbourn, Willingham, Castle Camps and Great Chishill, and to get between those last two locations, driving through Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire!

The meeting itself started at two and finished well after six thirty. I had time to check on the planning enforcement team's progress regarding Station Road, Whittlesford and the meeting with the County Highways today.

In the year that I have been on planning committee we have taken decisions on wind farms and travellers sites, huge grain storage facilities and sixth form colleges, redundant pubs and estates of many hundreds of houses. But each application matters a great deal to those involved, and those living nearby, however small the proposed extension might be.

Today, as one of nineteen applications on the agenda, including a planning application for Heathfield, we took a planning decision on a rabbit sanctuary at Chishill, which takes unwanted pets, educates people about their care, and finds them new homes. But local villagers complain about the flow of visitors past their gardens to the sanctuary, the burning of waste and vermin problems.

We agreed temporary permission and urged the rabbiteers to build a better relationship with the local village so that at some point they might secure permanent planning permission. One thing comes up again and again, and that is the power of a parish council representative attending and speaking at the planning committee.

That field along the A505 at Thriplow Heath

Calls on Thursday morning - when I was on the train into work - from people concerned at renewed activity on the field near the Pet Crem. This field has had a High Court injunction secured on it by the district council since February to prevent unlawful development - such as people occupying the site without planning permission.

Spoke to the South Cambs planning enforcement team (who had just come back from clearing Smithy Fen of similar unlawful development) who went to take a look first thing Friday morning. Quiet at the moment, they tell me, but regularly checked, I'm assured - just in case anything happens over the Bank Holiday weekend for instance.

Gypsy and Traveller Site Consultation

To Cambourne this evening to take part in a meeting about the proposals for identifying and consulting on sites for gypsies and travellers in South Cambs. The process is a long one, with consultation next year.

The important thing about all this is that if the local authority is making proper provision for these sites, then it will be more able to get the courts to stop travellers just occupying a field, as they have at Smithy Fen.

There are no plans for traveller sites in this part of the district, but it is worth understanding the process. One thing to watch is that if a number of proposed traveller sites which are part of bigger developments, like Northstowe, don't happen because the whole development slows down, then the pressure will be on to find other sites...

Field next to the A505 at Thriplow Heath - why is it being dug up?

I called the police this morning (Saturday) having been alerted by people at Thriplow Heath about what was happening to a field there. South Cambs secured a High Court Injunction on the field in February. (Click on words to go to Royston Crow article). The injunction, which was not easily secured, and had to satisfy a high level of proof, was because SCDC believed that travellers were then about to occupy the site unlawfully. It has been quiet from then till now.

I drove over to take a look myself: a JCB was ripping out the hedges and clearing topsoil to make a three metre wide flattened strip around the field perimeter. The police view, initially, was that as the people on site were there with the permission of the landowner there was not a problem. I pointed out the High Court injunction factor and got them to issue an incident number as we were being bounced around a bit between the police control centres. I called south cambs planning enforcement officers and they sent a copy of the High Court injunction to the police, who then visited the site. The enforcement officer also went over went over to the site. I'm told that according to the contractor, the work going on there is to put in a fence around the field to prevent fly tipping. I'm also told that the contractor said he would now cease work and leave the site. I went over at six this evening and the JCB was still on site, and the cleared strip now running down the side of the field from the road, where the hedge used to be, is clearly visible.

South Cambs enforcement will be deciding whether to go back to the High Court on the basis that the injunction has been breached, which is a contempt of court. I've asked the people at Thriplow Heath to call if there is any further activity tomorrow. It is frustrating, but there isn't much more we can do without a court decision. I'll report developments at the Tuesday evening Thriplow Parish Council meeting.

Keeping an eye on one or two fields in the area...II

Further information emerged in the last 24 hours about traveller plans to move onto a field alongside the A505.

I spoke with the district council's enforcement officers this morning, who were on the case - information went before a judge this afternoon and an injunction was secured.Anyone moving onto the field will be in breach of a court order. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Keeping an eye on one or two fields in the area

In the middle of January I had a busy week liasing between local businesses and parish councils, South Cambs planning enforcement officers and the district's legal team, and Andrew Lansley's office.
The reason: a couple of fields in the area need to be closely watched to make sure that they don't - overnight - become illegally occupied by travellers. It would be wrong for all sorts of reasons to have people living on the edge of a major road with no facilities, bypassing all planning rules, and south cambs has done a lot to provide proper traveller sites.

The aim was to ensure we could get a High Court injunction, backed by all levels of democracy ie parish, district, MP, having done the prep work very quickly as needs be. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.