Travellers bulldozed our beauty spot FOUR months ago and the council has done nothing… now we’re fighting back

FUMING residents are fighting back after travellers bulldozed their beauty spot four months ago and the idle council has still failed to take decisive action. Locals will stage a protest tomorrow, demanding “enough is enough” over what they say is a continuing breach of planning rules at Willows Green, near Felsted, Essex. Defiant local residents plan to protest on September 3 Credit: John McLellan Local MP James Cleverly previously accused the travellers of trying to ‘game the system’ Credit: JOHN McLELLAN The row began on the Early May Bank Holiday when around 30 lorries descended on the four-acre field just hours after the council offices closed. Bulldozers ripped through the land and workers laid hardstanding as the site was rapidly transformed. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The field is home to protected great-crested newts and rare albino fallow deer. Residents say the work continued through the Bank Holiday weekend, with caravans and mobile homes arriving on the site. The traveller site appeared over the May Bank Holiday weekend in the village of Willows Green in Essex Credit: SWNS Caravans on the site viewed from the road Credit: Andrew Styczynski They claim the development has continued despite a High Court injunction obtained in May and made permanent in June. Now the Willows Green Action Group says locals have been left watching the unauthorised development become increasingly established for four months. A spokesperson said: “For four months, residents have watched an unauthorised development become increasingly established while the council has failed to take the decisive action its own legal orders appeared to make possible. “The lack of action, lack of accountability and lack of effective enforcement is embarrassing for Uttlesford District Council. Most read in The Sun “Residents have gathered evidence, reported suspected breaches and repeatedly asked for intervention, but the community is still waiting for a meaningful resolution. “This protest is about saying that enough is enough. Planning rules must apply equally to everyone, and court orders must mean something. “We are asking the council to explain publicly what it has done, what it has failed to do and exactly when effective enforcement action will now take place.” Uttlesford District Council served a Temporary Stop Notice on May 5, which came into effect the following morning. Willows Green resident Tracy Williams is calling for action Credit: SWNS An enforcement notice is said to have failed to disperse the travellers Credit: Andrew Styczynski It then obtained an interim High Court injunction on May 7 prohibiting further development and residential occupation of the land. The order was subsequently made permanent in June. But residents claim work and residential use have continued despite the legal action. Their anger has now grown further after a retrospective planning application was lodged seeking permission for 12 Gypsy and Traveller pitches. The application was validated by Uttlesford District Council on August 26. It covers mobile homes, touring caravans, day rooms, access roads, utility infrastructure and landscaping. The group will protest outside Uttlesford District Council’s offices on September 3, ahead of a meeting of its Scrutiny Committee. Residents say their frustration has been heightened by what they describe as a faster response to an unauthorised development at Sheering Mill Lane in Sawbridgeworth, Herts. The group said: “Nobody is suggesting that every enforcement case is identical, but residents cannot ignore the stark difference in urgency. “East Herts acted over a Bank Holiday weekend, returned to court when its first order was not respected and worked with the police to secure a swift outcome. “At Willows Green, residents have been living with an apparently continuing unauthorised development since the first May Bank Holiday. “Uttlesford residents deserve the same determination, urgency and visible leadership. We need action, not more explanations for delay.” It comes as Hertfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner called for emergency powers to tackle serious unauthorised developments. Local resident Tracy Williams previously said: “We feel we’ve been let down by the people who should be helping and supporting us. “We pay our council taxes and we submit our planning in the right way. Doing nothing is not helpful – we should be proactive not reactive.” Jonathan Ash-Edwards said: “If someone knowingly waits for a Bank Holiday, arrives with heavy machinery and carries out rapid, substantial works specifically to get ahead of enforcement, I believe that should become a criminal offence. “The principle is straightforward, nobody should be able to game the planning system by ripping up our countryside first and asking for permission later.” Uttlesford District Council was contacted for comment. Comment now