Newark and Sherwood District Council to serve enforcement notice on illegal caravan site near Weston
An illegal caravan site sprang up over the bank holiday weekend, with roads and fences installed on a field.
Within just one day from Friday, April 18, working through the night, the unlawful development was constructed near Weston, with tarmacadam roads, fences, and pitches created on land near the A1 without planning permission.
A large number of caravans and mobile homes have also been parked up on the site.
Legal action has now been taken, with Newark and Sherwood District Council to serve an enforcement notice on the landowners and occupiers today (April 24) — meaning the site must be vacated and returned to its original state by May 30.
A Newark and Sherwood District Council spokesman said: “On Good Friday, April 18, we were made aware of an unlawful development in Weston, located between Tuxford and Sutton-on-Trent along the side of the A1.
“Within 24 hours, working overnight, occupiers of this site had built tarmacadam roads, removed hedges, created entrances, put up fences and positioned plots, known as pitches. As of this morning, Thursday, April 24, there were approximately 40 pitches on site. Today, we are serving an enforcement notice on the landowners and occupiers.”
The enforcement notice means the occupiers must ‘Cease the use of the land as a caravan site and remove all caravans and mobile homes from the land’, and, in line with the minimum period legally required, will take effect 28 days after it was served.
In the case of failure to comply with an enforcement notice, the council can take direct action to enter the land in order to remedy the breach of planning control — and it is a criminal offence to contravene the notice.
An appeal can be lodged against the notice, in which case the effect of the notice will pause until the process is concluded.
The council spokesman added: “If this right is exercised a decision on whether to uphold or quash the notice will be made by the Planning Inspectorate, an independent appeal body who act on behalf of central government.
“We understand residents’ frustration and concerns over this unlawful development. We are working as diligently and as quickly as possible to ensure we are doing all we can to address the situation.”
The council is to continue providing updates on its website.
One resident who lives near the site said: “It was an agricultural field and they moved on with diggers and installed septic tanks, the roads have been damaged.
“There’s 40 to 50 caravans. Another resident has been threatened, and there’s litter and detritus which wasn’t here before.
“It’s just a mess, I’ve not seen anything like it in my life, it’s just sprung up over the weekend.”
They added that the issues had been reported to both the council, police, and MP Robert Jenrick.
A Nottinghamshire Police spokesman said: “We’re aware of reports of anti-social behaviour in and around a site in Moorhouse Road, Egmanton, around 4pm on Easter Sunday (April 20).
“Tackling anti-social behaviour remains a longstanding policing priority for the Newark and Sherwood neighbourhood policing team, and as such, will not be tolerated.
“Anyone who experiences or witnesses this type of unacceptable behaviour is asked to report it to the police on 101, so that action can be taken.”
