Latest news with #Pulborough
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Travellers ordered to leave Pulborough caravan site launch appeal
A family of travellers who turned a field in West Sussex into a caravan site have launched an appeal after being told they must Keet laid hardstanding and built waste tanks on land off Stall House Lane, near Pulborough, before installing caravans on 18 were called to intervene after clashes between the travellers and local residents, but no further action was District Council said it already has "a number" of existing traveller and gypsy sites, and that it had rejected retrospective planning from Mr Keets because of potential harm to the area and a nearby listed building. The land is jointly owned by Mr Keet, Tony Castle and William Hughes, and there are currently two static caravans and two touring caravans on moving onto the land, they sought retrospective planning permission for four static caravans and four touring the council has rejected the application "due to concerns that the extent of the development was harmful to the rural character of the countryside location and to the setting of an adjacent listed building".The authority then served an enforcement notice ordering the owners to remove the caravans and return the land to how it was before they moved in within six three landowners have appealed against the order, claiming the site is well screened and not visible from the road or other properties."You'd be chucking me and the kids on the side of the road in a caravan with a generator if I couldn't live here, same for my brother," said Mr Keet. Shortage of traveller sites Elizabeth Pleasant, from the planning inspectorate, heard from residents opposed to the development and council planning officers as well as the travellers, their agent and their Rudd, the barrister for the owners, said they had intentionally developed the land without permission, but said the law allows for retrospective applications and appeals."The impact from this development on the landscape is limited and can be reduced with planning conditions," he Rudd also said there was "significant need" for places for travellers to live.A review carried out for the council last year concluded that 80 pitches for travellers and gypsies should be provided over the next five years and 128 by Mr Castle said the council have "little interest" in finding sites for travellers and gypsies."We're trying to create homes for our community that the local authority is failing to do," he Hughes added: "It's down to us and it's hard to find a site that's not in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a flood zone or a protected area, and if we do find one, developers want it for housing and pay millions."The planning inspector will decide whether to uphold the appeal in about four weeks. The council accepted that there is a need for additional traveller sites, but said: "This application was refused due to concerns that the extent of the development was harmful to the rural character of the countryside location and to the setting an adjacent listed building, and therefore contrary to relevant planning policies.""The council reserves its position on any further planning enforcement action until after the planning inspector's decision is received on both appeals."
BBC News
2 days ago
- Climate
- BBC News
Tornado in Pulborough damages trees but misses homes
A research group is collecting information about storm damage after "evidence of a moderate tornado" in West weather event happened in Pulborough just before 18:00 BST on Saturday, according to the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (Torro).This followed a yellow Met Office thunderstorm warning in south-east England on the same site investigator Sarah Horton told BBC Radio Sussex she was "particularly interested in what happened next" after observing the 0.8-mile (1.3km) damage trail south of the village. She said: "Did the thunderstorm that produced the tornado in Pulborough do anything else as it went further east?"Torro graded the event as T2 on its scale, meaning it was a moderate tornado with a wind speed between 73mph (117km/h) and 92mph (148km/h).The privately run organisation said no homes were damaged and asked for pictures of storm damage to be uploaded to its website. Tim Anderson, who witnessed the tornado from his home, told BBC Radio Sussex it was "a bit scary but surprising to see" the twister moving across Pulborough Brooks nature reserve."The rain was beating against the window and then the window started vibrating," he said."It was literally like a wall of rotating debris coming off the brooks and heading downriver." Ms Horton said she found "damaged trees, mostly along the River Arun" and it is "very clear from the track" that this was caused by a tornado."If you look at some of the trees you can see that they've been twisted," the storm investigator said."It's quite a long narrow track so it's only around 50m wide at its widest point."She added that tornadoes are "unusual but not rare" and that Sussex experiences "a reasonable amount" of them, particularly near the coast. Torro was established in 1974 and describes itself as a privately supported research body serving the national and international public interest.
