Council Crackdown on Wanborough Fields Landowners Who Ignored Planning Laws

Published on: 5 Oct, 2020
Updated on: 5 Oct, 2020

Wanborough fields, Area of Great Landscape Value (ALGV). Field viewed from the west showing unauthorised structures subject to enforcement.

Guildford Borough Council is threatening court action against owners of two plots on green belt Wanborough Fields, issuing enforcement and stop notices for ignoring planning laws.

See also: Opinion: We Need Planning Protection to Counter Rogue Builders and Wanborough Residents Lobby GBC Over Tree Nursery Threat to Green Belt 

Without permission, fences had been installed and one landowner had also laid stoned surfacing and stored several shipping containers, although the land is reserved for agriculture.

The fields are protected from development, designated an Area of Great Landscape Value (AGLV) and some parts within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

A GBC statement said: “We have also issued this landowner with a stop notice to cease the unauthorised work and activities. Failure to comply can result in a maximum fine of £20,000 in magistrates’ court or an unlimited fine by Crown Court.”

Cllr Tony Rooth

Cllr Tony Rooth (R4GV, Pilgrims), said: “In the past two years, agricultural fields at Wanborough have been sold to a buyer who has further subdivided the land into plots. There are now many landowners, and some are doing what they want, all without planning permission.

“Issuing a stop notice is rare and shows the severity of the damage. We have a large number of complaints. Ignoring the need for planning permission is unacceptable and we will not tolerate this.”

Cllr Caroline Reeves

Cllr Caroline Reeves (Lib Dem, Friary & St Nicolas), lead for Housing and Development Control, said: “We share the concerns of the local community. There have been planning breaches with several landowners and we are dealing with these.

“This behaviour is not acceptable. Protecting our green belt land to limit urban sprawl is important, as is focussing on regenerating our brownfield sites. Planning permission protects key sites and ensures safety of development.”

Mike Aaronson, chair of the Normandy Action Group, whose article last month alerted Guildford Dragon NEWS readers to the deteriorating situation at Wanborough Fields, said: “It’s good that GBC has at last taken action against these breaches of planning regulations. But severe damage has already been done to the landscape, and restoring it as required by the enforcement notice will take a great deal of vigilance and determination by enforcement officers, plus strong political leadership from councillors.

“Unless the council’s planning enforcement team is given the resources it needs to secure compliance from those who break the rules, the requirements of the notice will remain mere words on a piece of paper. This would weaken respect for the planning system as a whole, and leave our countryside vulnerable to further depredation.”

Breaches of planning control can be reported on the GBC website: www.guildford.gov.uk/planningenforcement.

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