Eighty objections lodged against unauthorised traveller site on greenbelt land

More than 80 objection letters have been lodged against an application to change the use of greenbelt land in Fifield to a caravan site for four traveller pitches – amid ongoing legal matters.

On the evening of Friday, January 16, residents were concerned to notice that building work appeared to be going on within a patch of land across the junction from Braywood Memorial Hall.

But because it happened over the weekend, not much could be done – a serious breach would ordinarily require court intervention – but courts only operate Monday to Friday.

Since then, the council has taken several steps, including bringing an enforcement notice against Abcot UK Ltd (ref 25/50207/ENF).

On January 20, a temporary stop notice was served on the site, prohibiting more work on the site.

Two days later, an interim injunction was granted by the courts, strengthening this.

This was extended in a High Court decision this month – but the court decided against serving a full injunction, which would last much longer, until certain other matters were resolved.

Among these is a retrospective planning application for the site, currently awaiting a decision from the Royal Borough’s planning team.

The application, made in February, says one of the residents on the site ‘has significant health needs’ and a settled base would give them access to healthcare ‘while also facilitating a nomadic way of life’.

The applicant’s representatives, Oasis Land Management Ltd, also sought to demonstrate that this does not constitute ‘inappropriate’ development of greenbelt land.

“The application site does not adjoin a large built-up area, or make any contribution towards separating neighbouring towns,” says Oasis Land Management.

“Furthermore, it does not lie within the setting of a historic town. As such, it does not make any contribution towards satisfying the greenbelt purposes.”

Caravans would be visible at the site – however, this effect on the area’s character ‘would be highly localised’ due to screening around the site from hedgerows, argues the application.

Further, there is ‘the considerable unmet need for traveller sites’ to consider.

Traveller sites ‘have a number of characteristic features’ which can be ‘atypical in the countryside,’ such as utility buildings; and therefore ‘some degree of visual impact must be expected.’

“If an adequate supply of gypsy sites is to be provided, some degree of visual harm must usually be acceptable,” wrote Oasis Land Management.

Nonetheless, there are 81 objection letters lodged in the Royal Borough’s planning portal, many echoing points raised by residents speaking to the Advertiser.

As well as greenbelt concerns and fears over the impact on wildlife, they note the junction is ‘a dangerous junction’.

Oakley Green & Fifield Residents Association (OGFRA) said: “[The junction] has been the location of a number of traffic accidents.

“The access to the site … suffers from poor visibility. Proximity to this junction and is unsafe for both occupants of the site and other road users.”

But critically, the way in which building on the site has been done has caused ‘significant concern’ that those moving there ‘are not going to respect the village.’

Bray councillor Suzanne Cross (Ind) said residents are ‘understandably frustrated’ at the length of time it has taken for the matter to progress.

“I am receiving a significant number of calls and messages from concerned residents each week, which I collate and submit to the enforcement team,” she said.

Abcot UK Ltd was approached for comment.