A PROACTIVE approach towards unauthorised planning in rural villages has been praised by a parish council.

The planning enforcement team at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC) recently successfully applied to the Royal Courts of Justice for a High Court injunction to be issued on a three acre paddock off Bramley Road in Silchester.

Following recent unauthorised activity by members of the traveller community in turning green field sites into residential caravan sites in Bramley and Silchester without first obtaining planning permission, the borough council decided to act to pre-empt the same thing from happening again.

In February 2017, a six acre area of mixed water meadow and forestry between Silchester and Little London - known as Land off Culhams Mill comprising part of the Silchester Common and Pamber Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest - was purchased by the traveller community and then hundreds of tonnes of hard core and surface shingle were deposited on the site over the course of the weekend after enforcement officers had gone home.

Following this more than 250 letters of objection the subsequent court action and time spent by planning officers has cost the Borough many tens of thousands.

The news that a high court injunction has been issued has been welcomed by chairman of Silchester Parish Council, Cllr Simon Mahaffey.

Cllr Mahaffrey said: “We think BDBC should be congratulated for being proactive and taking the concerns of residents seriously. Nobody in the Parish wants to see the Traveller community vilified but equally we feel strongly that the planning process applies to all members of the community and that these deliberate, unauthorised developments should be stopped. The vast majority of the Traveller community are perfectly law abiding citizens but this sort of activity does not serve their community well as it tars them all with the same brush and makes it even harder for them to integrate with the settled community.

“The action taken by BDBC sends a strong message to anyone considering similar actions in the Borough, no matter what their background, that it does not pay to try to subvert the planning process. People are all too often critical of planners but in this case the Parish Council and the residents of Silchester fully support the strong stance they have taken”.