LANDOWNERS who tried to extend an unauthorised caravan site in Thurrock have been landed with a bill of tens of thousands of pounds after Thurrock Council successfully took them to court.

The development on green belt land at Buckles Lane in South Ockendon – already known as Europe's biggest travellers site - has been halted in in its tracks by a final Court Order obtained by the council preventing unauthorised development on land to the north of the Buckles Lane site.

The council, which has previously been condemned by borough MP Jackie Doyle-Price for turning a blind eye to unauthorised development at Buckles Lane, took legal action after hard-standing and septic tanks were built on green belt land without planning permission. The council also took legal action concerning land to the south of Buckles Lane and has been granted an interim injunction in relation to that land.

A court order, which was granted following hearings which took place on 27 and 30 October, ordered that David Albert Remblance, Glenn Remblance and Dean Albert Remblance also had to re-seed the land returning it to its previous green belt condition. The Court also granted a final Order, in similar terms, against 'any persons unknown'.

The court also awarded the council costs, ordering the defendants to pay the council's legal bill.

They have been ordered to pay £30,000 with a detailed assessment to be carried out to decide how much they should pay of the remaining £21,000 of the council's costs.

Leader of Thurrock Council, Cllr Rob Gledhill, said: "This legal action shows how seriously we take the issue of unauthorised development and demonstrates we will take effective legal measures to prevent and rectify further damage to the green belt around Buckles Lane.

"We have promised we would take action to tackle the decades of unchecked development on the site and this is the first of many such and similar actions we will need to take to finally resolve this issue.

"The landowners behind this have been ordered to pay our legal costs as well as paying to return the land to its previous state.

"We have been resolute in the action taken to halt these developments and prevent any further unauthorised development and this sends a strong message to anyone thinking of building without planning permission in Thurrock."

Another hearing is set to take place in December to decide whether the interim injunction, relating to unauthorised development on land to the south of Buckles Lane, should be made final.

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