Latest news with #Lurgashall
BBC News
09-05-2025
- BBC News
Travellers at Lurgashall served injunction banning more caravans
Chichester District Council has applied for an injunction against a family of travellers who have set up caravans in a West Sussex field. Workers spent last weekend removing a deep layer of soil in a field on Blind Lane near Lurgashall, Petworth, before spreading it with hardcore council has already issued a stop notice at the South Downs National Park site. The family have told the BBC that they believed they had a right to live there and would not leave. Seven caravans and motorhomes were brought onto the site on Monday, with nearby residents saying they were outraged that strict planning laws in place in the South Downs National Park had seemingly been 100 people attended a Lurgashall Parish Council meeting on District Council leader Adrian Moss told attendees that barristers had prepared an injunction application which the council had submitted to a judge."The injunction means that they cannot do any more works or bring any more caravans onto the site or they would be liable to prosecution," he said."The ultimate aim is to have them removed from the site but we must wait for the court to make the decision about what happens next." Some residents approached by the BBC after the meeting said they were reassured that the council was taking these legal steps, others were less sure. Asked to sum up the feelings of the community, one woman replied "anxious and helpless". Ward district councillor Brett Burkhart said the village felt "violated" and people were "very shocked". One resident, who did not want to be named, said a car came from the site and followed him aggressively, with the driver and passenger using threatening and intimidating behaviour and language. The BBC has spoken to the travellers, who denied that any members of the family had been added that they have reported hateful comments made about them online to the police. The family said they believed they had the right to live on land that they said they owned and they told the BBC they had no choice but to do this unlawfully "as we're never heard or given a voice". They added: "We're treated like aliens and have suffered years of discrimination."We just want to be accepted in this community. We're not moving anywhere." The South Downs National Park Association said: "We are appalled at the unauthorised works on this site in the National Park, which has been designated on behalf of the entire nation for its natural beauty, biodiversity and heritage."We take breaches of planning and unauthorised development very seriously and will continue to work with Chichester District Council to resolve the situation."
BBC News
06-05-2025
- BBC News
South Downs: Lurgashall field works spark 'outrage'
'Outrage' over unauthorised works in South Downs 5 minutes ago Share Save Patrick Barlow BBC News, South East Share Save Eddie Mitchell Caravans and works on a site in the South Downs National Park have sparked concerns Caravans and motorhomes have appeared in a field in the South Downs National Park which was levelled and turned into an unauthorised work site over the bank holiday weekend. Workers cleared the site on land near Blind Lane in Lurgashall, near Petworth, over the weekend despite Chichester District Council officers serving a notice to stop. A council spokesperson said: "As the notice has been breached, and caravans have now entered the site, we are taking further legal steps including seeking an injunction through the courts." Opponents including South Downs MP Andrew Griffith have criticised the works as an "illegal breach of all respected planning standards and behaviour". The council added: "We take these matters incredibly seriously. We have planning rules in place to protect areas of countryside in our district, including the South Downs National Park, and if harmful development is carried out then we will take appropriate enforcement action. "We want to assure the community that we are doing everything in our power to respond to this. We will also be working with those on the site, local parish councils, and the local community, to offer support." Eddie Mitchell Work vehicles on the site at the weekend Workers arrived at the site on Friday with machinery and cleared and levelled the green site in the middle of the South Downs National Park, which the council described as "unauthorised engineering operations". A council planning officer later posted a second notice on the gate of the site on Monday while three men continued working. Stricter planning regulations exist in national parks such as the South Downs, with applications submitted to the National Park Authority rather than the local council. A spokesperson for Sussex Police said officers had also attended the site but that the issue was a civil matter and it was liaising with local authorities. Eddie Mitchell A council officer delivering a stop notice to the site Mr Griffith, MP for Arundel and the South Downs, said: "I completely share the outrage and concern of residents about this illegal breach of all respected planning standards and behaviour. "It makes a mockery of a system where we all jump through lengthy and costly hoops to install a dormer window when such brazen breaches happen unchecked." Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.
