Council acts after caravans move on to farmland

Enforcement action has been taken after travellers developed land within a conservation area and moved caravans on to it.

Villagers in Dinton, Buckinghamshire, woke up on Saturday morning to lorries and diggers moving earth to create a hard standing on the land.

A man who identified himself as the landowner, but declined to be named, told the BBC he and his associates were gypsies and travellers who had nowhere else to go, and had applied for planning permission late on Friday to develop the site.

Buckinghamshire Council said it had not received a planning application but had issued a temporary stop notice ordering that no further materials or caravans be brought on to the site.

The council issued the notice on Monday morning but since then, lorries have arrived to deliver mobile homes.

The land, to south of Upton Road in the village, near Aylesbury, was sold last year by Michael Cook, who said he did so knowing it could not be developed due to a covenant and could only be used for agriculture.

He said he had sold roughly half of a larger field. That land was subsequently split into smaller plots and sold again at auction.

Cook, who still owns the other part of the field, described his "worst fears coming to fruition" upon seeing diggers and "multiple lorry-loads of rubble" on the site.

"The frustration is this can happen and probably happens across the country every weekend... and no one wants to do anything about it until Monday morning," he said.

The man identifying himself as the landowner told the BBC he submitted a planning application late on Friday but went ahead with the work and would wait to hear from the council.

Asked whether he knew the land was within a conservation area and had restrictions on it, he said it was subject to a planning dispute.

The BBC has been unable to verify which plots of land the man owns.

Greg Smith, Conservative MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, said he believed the work had been deliberately carried out on a weekend to avoid a "full enforcement response".

He added: "The problem here is that no-one has planning permission to do this... and it is absolutely essential getting this development not just stopped, but the hardcore, the tarmac, the caravans gone and this land restored to how it should be."

In a statement, Buckinghamshire Council said: "Over the weekend, we became aware of unauthorised works taking place at Upton Road in Dinton, where hard standing was being laid and three caravans had been brought on to the land.

"This morning [Monday], we issued a temporary stop notice requiring that no further materials be brought on to the site and that no additional caravans are moved on to the land. The notice takes immediate effect.

"We will continue to monitor the situation closely and consider any further action as necessary."

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