Thurrock councillors cheer mobile home action - Essex

From the Enquirer

A THURROCK councillor and his colleague are celebrating putting a stop to plans to put an illegal mobile home in their ward.

Little Thurrock Rectory councillor Rob Gledhill says a notice has been served by Council officers to stop occupiers of a site off Malvern Road developing it with buildings.

He says: “Travellers who have pitched up at the bottom of Malvern Road have been served a notice to stop works after causing traffic chaos last Thursday.

“The notice prevents the occupiers of the site from having any further caravans, building materials delivered or carrying out works at the site.

“On Thursday residents in Dartview, Chadwell Road and Malvern Road called saying a massive mobile home was being delivered to the site and that it was blocking the road. Both residents, Cllr Tom Kelly and I informed the Council of the problem and within hours they had served the site owners a stop notice.


“In June I was notified that four families in caravans had pitched up on the site. Officers who attended were told they were just there to clear the site but within days they had put in a planning permission for five mobile home pitches and day rooms.

“Despite the application not being completed in time, the caravans were allowed to stay.

“The site, which is classed as metropolitan greenbelt, was last occupied nearly a decade ago following temporary permission being issued by the planning inspectorate.

“Local residents and I are angry that, despite being given more time to submit valid plans than most applicants, it wasn’t until after getting wind of enforcement action that their application was finally complete.

“Since then they have changed their plans, had a massive mobile home delivered, cut back trees and shrubs and started other preparation works so clearly they do not intend to abide by planning rules.

“It was good to see that the Council acted so quickly on Thursday serving the stop notice in just a few hours.

“However, had they had acted faster when the original application was not completed in time residents would not have the uncertainty of an illegal site being set up and the Council potentially spending thousands of pound of tax payers money to move them on.”

At the meeting of the Council’s planning committee on 24 Octoberowners of the site will be bidding to get permission for use of land behind 63 Malvern Road to provide five pitches for Gypsy/Traveller families including five mobile homes, five touring caravans and five day rooms.