Plans for caravans denied near Three Legged Cross
The decision is the latest in a long-running saga about gypsy status and legal use of the site for residential purposes which dates back to 2009.
Last updated 27th Jan 2022
Caravans and mobile homes, including those for travellers, have been refused on a site adjacent to the Three Legged Cross sports field.
Dorset Council has turned down a request for a change of use for part of the Lower Common Lane site for five caravans or mobile homes adjoining the Heathlands sports pitch. It also involved the re-use of the former pavilion for residential purposes.
The decision is the latest in a long-running saga about gypsy status and legal use of the site for residential purposes which dates back to 2009.
Objections to the latest proposal came from the parish council which said the use was contrary to local plan policies; from the Dorset Council environment team which said the use should not be allowed because it was within 400metres of a designated nature site, and from the Dorset Council planning team which said that other sites were available without using Green Belt land.
Five letters of objection had also been received from neighbours who said the change of use would be out of keeping with the area, contrary to Green Belt policies; close to a Site of Special Scientific Interest and would add to traffic problems with no footway or pavement on the lane.
The existing use of the land for caravans and mobile homes had led to enforcement action being agreed by the former East Dorset District Council, which was never actioned, although still remains in place.
That decision was followed by an appeal which was dismissed and then further legal challenges to the High Court which was refused and an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights which was declared inadmissible.
A further planning application to use the site followed in 2015 which was refused, leading to a public inquiry which dismissed the appeal in April 2018.
A Dorset Council report says that the site appears to have been occupied by the family of Mr and Mrs John Bignall, their daughter and her children, since at least 2009 with some of the planning decisions based around whether or not the family have gypsy status.
Mr Bignall has told previous hearings that he was born into a gypsy family in Kent and deals in scrap metal and horses with a shop in Parkstone, occasionally visiting gypsy fairs and other gatherings.
A previous hearing had decided that although ethnically he is of gypsy blood, the fact that he is not leading a nomadic lifestyle, other than for social reasons, rules out the status in planning terms, according to a judgement from the public inquiry in 2017.
Dorset Council has argued that there are other sites the family could live including six within East Dorset capable of meeting the family’s need, ranging from 12 pitches at Wigbeth Farm to a pitch at Pompeys Lane, Ferndown.
A planning officer report on the application, running to almost 30 pages, concluded: “The proposal would result in substantial harm to the South East Dorset Green Belt and to protected Dorset heathland. The applicant has not put forward any other matters which would outweigh the harm. The proposal is therefore contrary to national and local planning policy.”