From Burgess Hill Uncovered
Local residents met at the Watermill pub on Wednesday morning as Cllr Pru Moore along with District Council leader Gary Marsh, came to address the state of play regarding the Traveller site next to Bedelands Farm nature reserve.
Earlier this month the land went up for auction. The guide price was £15-£20k. There was a condition on the land that it had to be leased back to Mid Sussex District Council for £500p.a
Mid Sussex District Council wanted to buy the land from British Rail before it went to auction. However, British Rail weren't interested as they were of the belief that the land was worth £200k.
The Buyer
The land sold at auction for £147.5k. The buyer is a Traveller. Apparently he didn't really know what he was buying and the conditions on the land. It's believed he purchased the land with the intention of moving his 'family' to the site;.
The buyer and his 'agent' have met with the council to see where they stand legally on what can be done with the land. He's been told to stay away from the Traveller site unless he is accompanied by a member of the council. He's not allowed to make contact with any of the residents or make any demands.
The current residents
The council are fully behind the current residents and will do all they can to help protect them and to ensure they remain untroubled from the new owner. There have been discussions with the police. Gates have been ordered for the Leylands Road entry to the site. The council are determined to take control of the land and keep the site as it is.
Mid Sussex District Council's current lease
The lease that Mid Sussex District Council had with British Rail ran out in 2004. Since then it's just been rolling over each year. Could they have made more of an effort to have got something long term put in place or were they just too complacent?
What happens now?
The buyer has until March 15th to complete his purchase. The auction house could extend this deadline.
If he chooses to bail out, he'd lose his 10% deposit and may end up getting sued by the auctioneers OR the auctioneers could turn to the next highest bidder, which would be Mid Sussex District Council.
The new owner of the land could take the council to court and try to have the lease terminated. However, the District Council lawyers think they'd have a strong case for the lease to stay in place but can't guarantee a victory.
MSDC have not ruled out invoking a compulsory purchase order to obtain the land from the new owner.
It's a case of wait and see why the buyer decides to do.
Councillors In Attendance
For those that wish to know about your local councillors. District councillor Graham Knight (Lib Dem) and town councillor David Andrews (Labour) were both in attendance. 'Publicity' Pru Moore (Conservative) ran the meeting and MSDC leader Gary Wall was also present.
Mid Sussex council gave up the management of this site some years ago and it has been managed by West Sussex Council since then. The residents of the site were advised that it might be sold by BRB, but really have been left in total limbo by both councils who would not commit themselves to their proper responsibility towards these people and would not inform them what their rights were, and what they intended to do about the auction of the freehold and ensuring that they had security. West Sussex Council representatives were advised by the residents of the possible potential outcome of a traveller buying the site and seeking to evict the present residents and also the possibility after the site being so widely advertised, that it might attract an invasion of other travellers seeking a site to move on to. This was not taken seriously. Only two days before the Auction, Mid Sussex Council finalised the purchase of two blocks of unoccupied land at both ends of the site, which was originally included in the auction lot. I believe for the very small sum of £20,000. It would appear that the council were very complacent in believing that no one was likely to want to buy the site because of the lease in their favour for £500 a year. They were obviously hoping to buy the site at auction for a very small sum. A consequence of this is the fact that a traveller has outbid them. He was also unaware that he hadn't purchased the land at either end of the site as he intended moving more caravans onto the site. The residents have had weeks of worry and uncertainty about their future. Local Councillors for Mid Sussex District Council were contacted by the residents of the site, but were told that the site was not under their jurisdition, as West Sussex Council was managing it !!
ReplyDeleteNow that events " have come to a head " they have apparently been spurred into action, a bit late.
There has been no consideration for the feelings of the residents who have had weeks of anxiety and worry.
This is these peoples home. Some of them have lived their since the 1960's.
The Council have been playing games with little real respect or consideration for these people.
They can spend millions on other projects locally but won't commit to securing these peoples future until now when threatened by the fact that event might now cost them money. Also suddenly, now the other local residents have become worried about the potential for trouble they have managed to put pressure on the Council to take some action. They of course have been taken seriously, the residents of Bedelands Caravan Site were dismissed !!
The whole situation has been handled extremely badly and these people still do not know if their future is secure.