A 45-year-old traveller has been permitted to remain on land he transformed into a caravan site despite council orders to vacate, after authorities determined that removing him would violate his human rights.
Miles Martin Connors purchased the one-acre field in the Kent village of Sundridge at auction last October for £167,000.
Over the Easter bank holiday, what residents described as a “military-style land grab” unfolded when approximately 25 heavy goods vehicles descended on the site beginning Good Friday.
The lorries deposited tonnes of rubble onto the green space, which workers then converted into a hardstand area for caravans using diggers and other machinery.
Operations hit a snag on Easter Sunday when a lorry carrying a three-bedroom static caravan became wedged in a narrow country lane near the property.
Sevenoaks District Council has now issued an enforcement notice demanding Mr Connors restore the land to its original state.
However, protections under the Human Rights Act and Equality Act mean the 45-year-old, his wife and their three children cannot be immediately evicted.
Under a Temporary Stop Notice, the family has been granted an eight-week exemption allowing them to stay until June 2, the Daily Mail reports.
Mr Connors brought diggers and other machinery to turn the land into a caravan stand (stock image)
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Mr Connors is also prohibited from undertaking any additional engineering work or connecting to water and electricity supplies.
The enforcement notice requires all hardcore, caravans and vehicles to be removed by August 10, with the field reseeded using a wild meadow grass mixture.
Local residents have reacted with fury to the situation, accusing Mr Connors of exploiting legal protections.
“It’s absolutely typical that travellers who show little regard for the human rights of law-abiding residents use the Human Rights Act to play the system,” one villager told the Mail. “It’s preposterous. Everyone is angry but local authorities seem powerless as the law is on their side.”
Residents have been left furious after Mr Connors moved a static caravan onto the land (stock image)
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Another resident expressed frustration at what they perceive as a pattern across the country, telling the publication: “We’ve seen very similar cases all across the country and councils never manage to enforce the planning rules. Instead they get caught up in a protracted legal battle which ends with travellers getting their own way.”
A third local put it bluntly: “The law is an ass and until it is changed then people like us will always suffer.”
Laura Trott, the MP for Sevenoaks and shadow education secretary, has called for legislative reform to tackle such situations permanently.
She argued that preventing retrospective planning applications in cases where unauthorised development has already taken place represents the only effective solution.
“I have therefore written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government asking for a meeting, and have invited him to Sevenoaks to see the impact such developments are having on the community,” Ms Trott said.
The MP pledged to continue working with all parties to address the issue, stating: “The status quo must not continue.”
The site sits within both the Green Belt and the Kent Downs National Landscape, though the trees present are not covered by a Tree Preservation Order.
Kent Police faced accusations from residents of “aiding and abetting” the operation by assisting with moving the lorry and static home onto the property.
“The police didn’t do a good job at all, they were almost escorting the whole thing,” one resident complained.
“There were people with chain saws on top of vans chopping down branches so they could get through it was all a real mess.”
During the protests, James Evans, son of parish council chairman John Evans, was detained on suspicion of obstructing a police officer and subsequently released while an investigation continues.
Superintendent Elena Hall of Kent Police sought to clarify the force’s involvement, explaining officers attended solely to clear the blocked road following complaints, not to facilitate access for the vehicles.
She emphasised that private land ownership disputes constitute civil matters beyond police powers.