Another village has fallen victim to the traveller ‘land grab’, as Surrey locals watched more than a dozen caravans move in over the Easter weekend.
‘All hell’ descended on the sleepy home county village of Alford last Thursday, when travellers transformed a rural field into a 17 plot ‘gated community’.
It comes as travellers also made ‘land grabs’ in Sunbridge, Kent, and Flamstead village, Hertfordshire, over the Easter bank holiday weekend, when, it is understood, they thought would mean council officials would be slow to react.
Residents in Surrey reported thinking it was strange when they saw people they didn’t recognise measuring the widths of the road on Wednesday, April 1.
But just a day later it became clear as to why – when 30 to 40 grab lorries containing pipes, wood, aggregate, and steel arrived to create an entire community on the land.
Working day and night over the Easter weekend, 21 caravans and five static homes have been brought to the site.
Police were called, but locals said they were told it was a matter for the council. Residents said they are now fearful for their safety.
Father-of-two Peter Foy, 52, lives a five minute walk away from the site. He said construction work had been taking place until the early hours of each morning – with lights from the site visible across the sleepy village at night.
Pictured: the site of a 17-plot community in Alford, Surrey, where travellers descended last weekend
A total of 21 caravans and five static homes were brought to the site, which was constructed quickly over the bank holiday weekend
Local Peter Foy lives five minutes away from the site and said ‘all hell descended upon us’
Mr Foy said: ‘At roughly 4pm on Thursday afternoon, all hell descended upon us.
‘They’ve erected a huge fence around it – they’ve made a gated community, with great big steel doors on it.
‘There was caravan after caravan after caravan and huge lorries with the static mobile homes on as well.
‘They’ve now concreted over God knows what from late Thursday. If the council could do the potholes in as much time, we’d be loving it.
He added: ‘It’s impressive, but it’s horrendous at the same time. Everyone is incredibly angry.
‘They’re feeling betrayed and let down by Waverley Borough Council.’
The local council has issued two ‘stop notices’ to try to force work to cease under the Town and Country Planning Act – but it has continued.
Local councillor Jane Austin said residents had been left ‘visibly shaken’ by the new site.
She said: ‘It’s just disbelief actually that it’s happening. Separate from other sites of this nature, this is actually right on the edge of other people’s doorsteps, it’s right in the centre of the village.
‘The impact on daily life in the village is significant.’
Councillor Austin, who leads the Conservatives on local Waverley District Council, called the construction an example of a deliberate planning law breach.
The operation began on Thursday, April 2, but residents saw strangers measuring up the road the day before they moved vehicles in
The local council has issued two ‘stop notices’ to try to force work to cease under the Town and Country Planning Act – but it has continued
Local councillor Jane Austin said residents had been left ‘visibly shaken’ by the new site
She added: ‘What we’re seeing here is not transient community – this is people who are buying up rural land and, on purpose, choosing to breach planning law.
‘I think this is the thing that is so difficult for people. What about prioritising the people who are following the law and who are applying for planning permission?
‘It feels like we’re developing a two-tier system here, that’s the thing that’s really hard.’
Despite it all, local Peter Foy said the new site had brought the local community together.
A crowdfunder to raise money for a potential legal fight, and to help nearby neighbours buy extra locks and CCTV cameras, has already raised more than £5,000.
Mr Foy said: ‘All of a sudden, everybody knows everybody’s name. It’s weird – there’s a whole community cohesion.
‘It’s done what we’re trying to do – which is keep everyone together and stop people feeling isolated.’
Surrey Police said: ‘We are aware of a large number of vehicles and people on a site on Loxwood Road in Alford.
‘We have visited the area along with Waverley Borough Council to engage with those at the site, as well as local residents.
Thirty to 40 grab lorries containing pipes, wood, aggregate, and steel arrived to create an entire community on the land
Construction took place day and night to transform the rural field into an entire community
Police were called, but locals said they were told it was a matter for the council
‘No criminal offences have been identified by police.
‘The development of the site is a planning permission issue, which is being led by Waverley Borough Council.’
Local MP Sir Jeremy Hunt said: ‘Families who chose to live in Alfold for its tranquillity are having to watch in disbelief as a once-beautiful field is built over, in open defiance of planning law and two stop notices served by the council over the weekend.
‘The strength of feeling locally is immense – people are deeply distressed, angry and feel powerless.
‘Residents rightly expect the law to be upheld, and there is a very strong sense that urgent and decisive action is now needed.
‘But this is just the most recent in a series of cases which indicate planning law as it stands is failing us.
‘I will be raising this urgently with the Housing Minister, because communities such as Alfold deserve a planning system that works for law-abiding residents, not against them.’
Waverley Borough Council told Surrey Live: ‘Council officers visited the site on Thursday evening and again on Friday. We are aware that further works were carried out over the weekend.
Traveller families also made ‘land grabs’ in Kent and Flamstead village, Hertfordshire (pictured) where they concreted over a beauty spot
Villagers in Flamstead were left furious after the group barged their way onto a field near Friendless Lane (pictured over the weekend)
A caravan on the site in Hertfordshire after more mobile homes appeared on the green space. The travellers launched their land grab over the Bank Holiday weekend in the hope that council bosses would be slow to react, it is understood
‘Stop Notices were served on Thursday and again on Friday; however, these appear not to have been complied with.
‘The Council is pursuing all appropriate legal options to secure the reversal of any unauthorised development, and to prevent any further planning breaches.’
The battle Surrey locals now face is the same in Kent and Hertfordshire, where ‘land grabs’ by travellers also took place over the Easter weekend.
Residents in Sunbridge, a rural stockbroker belt in Kent, accused police of ‘aiding and abetting’ a group of travellers after they turned up, paved over a field and blocked a country road until 4am on Easter weekend.
The family descended on Sundridge under the cover of darkness on Friday, using diggers and machinery to convert the green space into a hardstand caravan site.
But their plans came to a temporary halt on Sunday when a three-bedroom static caravan loaded onto a lorry became wedged in a major country lane in the village, infuriating locals who couldn’t get past.
Fuming residents called the police and went out onto the road in an attempt to block any vehicles getting access to the field – leading to one local being arrested.
Meanwhile, in a beauty spot in Flamstead village, Hertfordshire, furious residents had their village ‘invaded’ by traveller families setting up camp by tearing up the land with bulldozers and diggers.
The first batch of caravans followed suit a few days later on Easter Sunday morning, as council officials were off for the bank holiday weekend.
The group laid down huge squares of concrete on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), surrounded by rolling fields and woodland.
The travellers launched their land grab over the Bank Holiday weekend in the hope that council bosses would be slow to react, it is understood.