Fears that Muggeridge Farm showground will be sold to Travellers - Essex

From the Essex Chronicle

AN ANTIQUES dealer fighting to save his showground is assuring his sceptical neighbours it won't become another Dale Farm.

Jim Gallie, 63, of Battlesbridge Antiques Centre, has hosted classic car, bike and boating shows in 16-acre Muggeridge Farm for more than 25 years. Yet persistent noise and traffic complaints, and a council ban on his events and marquee, has seen him submit fresh planning applications to try to find a happy medium.

The state of limbo has left the residents debating the remit of the showground.

"I'm getting flak from a minority," said Mr Gallie. "They fear the unknown. One of the fellas even turned around and said 'I know what you're going to do, you're going to make this Dale Farm and run off to France'. They think we'll sell it to travellers."

The Green Belt site's Grand Motorbilia Day in September attracts about 3,000 people and employs the use of a neighbouring field.

When the site is not hosting engine enthusiasts from across the South East, it is also used as a wedding and party venue.

Father-of-four Mr Gallie successfully applied for a premises licence to play music until midnight three years ago, but he insists he stops playing inside by 11pm.

The effect, however, has been a series of complaints and even council sewage system inspections.

After meeting with 30 residents in November, Mr Gallie has now submitted planning applications to keep his 9-metre by 15-metre marquee up permanently and to hold showground events for up to 130 days a year.

He is not obliged to submit applications because he has hosted events for more than ten trouble-free years.

He is also appealing the council decision to ban events.

"The reason I submitted it was to assure people that we had no intention to turn it into a Dale Farm," said Mr Gallie, who added that he would not use the showground for more than 100 days a year.

His 28-year-old daughter Georgie, who manages Frasers Guest House in nearby Maltings Road, added: "The showground events are massively important to us as a family and to businesses starting out doing the events."

Michael Baker, of Maltings Road, who has raised concerns online, labels it an "outlandish proposal."

"We are not out to persecute Jim but we think he has gone a bit far and the remit terrifies us," he said."The application is grossly out of scale."

Mr Baker added that he does not know who made the comment comparing the site to Dale Farm.

"I don't know who said that and I've only heard Jim say that at meetings."

Town planning consultant Sue Bell has also written on the application: "It is understood that Muggeridge Farm is a working one where rural business must be supported but not at the expense of the countryside, the Green Belt, the historic character and appearance and the quiet enjoyment of the village."

'The shows leave us landlocked'

RETTENDON parish councillor Roy Hart, right, says Jim Gallie's big events leave nearby Maltings Road "landlocked".

"The last thing we want to do is close Mr Gallie down," he said. "The summer shows are quite enjoyable but he has got a license for up to every day of the year.

"That's massive and the problem is the people in Maltings Road are landlocked in their own houses every time there is a big show on.

"If you lived in Maltings Road it would be hard to invite people round for a barbecue on one of those days."

Businessman Mr Hart, who lives in the village's Toad Hall, says the development is "too big" considering it lies beside the conservation area and is surrounded by about seven listed buildings.

"For the sleepy village of Battlesbridge it's too much," he said.