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Families seek retrospective permission to live on site

Brian Farmerand
Robbie Kalus,Royal Courts of Justice
Flamstead Parish Council An aerial shot of a green field edged by a country lane along the top. Concrete hard standing has been laid in a grid pattern and a trench has been dug through middle of the site. There are vans, diggers and cars moving around the site. Flamstead Parish Council
Families living on land near Flamstead want retrospective planning permission to live there, a High Court judge has been told

Families who moved onto green belt land near a village want permission to turn the area into a so-called "gypsy site", a judge has heard.

Council officials have taken High Court action after an "unauthorised encampment" was set up near Flamstead, Hertfordshire, earlier this month.

A judge overseeing a High Court hearing in London on Wednesday was told that families were seeking "retrospective planning permission".

Lawyers representing families living on the land said they had "little choice" but to move in due to a lack of "suitable" accommodation.

Supplied A view of the field. About six caravans are parked on hardstanding along with other vehicles and yellow diggers. There is a pylon in the middle of the field.Supplied
Villagers say diggers arrived at the site near Flamstead in early April

A High Court judge had, on 5 April, made an order "prohibiting any unauthorised works or use of the site", at Friendless Lane, following an application by Dacorum Borough Council.

Barrister Alan Masters, who represented about 20 adults living on the site, indicated on Wednesday that they wanted to alter or discharge that injunction.

He suggested that lawyers had not had enough time to prepare a "full defence" to the order.

But barrister Caroline Bolton, who represented the council, told the judge that the injunction had already been breached.

Judge Bilal Saddique said the case would be reconsidered on 7 May.

A green field with a barbed wire fence running through the middle. At the back of the field, there are several diggers roam around and piles of gravel are stacked up.
Pipes, hardcore and wood were spotted in the field, which sits between Markyate and Flamstead

Masters said his clients owned the land at the centre of the dispute and said the council had a "demonstrable need" for "gypsy sites".

"Following their residence on the site the named defendants lawfully sought retrospective planning permission to turn the land into a gypsy site," Masters told Judge Saddique, in a written legal argument.

"The land is in an area of the Green Belt that is Grey Belt and where development of a gypsy site is classified as appropriate development."

He added: "Whilst it is accepted that they moved on and occupied this site in advance of planning permission being granted, they had very little choice due to the lack of unsuitable available lawful alternative accommodation in the district."

Masters indicated that about 20 adults - and an estimated 40 children - were living on the site.

A yellow bulldozer faces the camera with its silver scraper at the front. It sits on a large area of soil that is amid a grassy field, and the soil appears to have been recently turned over. There are trees and fields in the background.
Dacorum Borough Council has taken legal action in a bid to prevent unauthorised use of the site

Police have said they are investigating a "number of allegations" in the wake of the creation of the "unauthorised encampment".

They say people have made complaints of offences including criminal damage and threatening behaviour.

One told the BBC that a "convoy of caravans" arrived at about 06:00 BST on Easter Sunday, 5 April.

Reuters Part of the Royal Courts of Justice: an ornate grey building with the words "The Royal Courts of Justice" written in black on the side.Reuters
A judge oversaw a High Court hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Wednesday

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