Unauthorised encampment
Update: 15 March 2023
We have taken further action and used the planning enforcement Stop Notice procedure, which requires all occupants to leave the site, while an appeal is being considered, or risk prosecution which might result in a criminal conviction.
As the occupants have not yet left the site, the Council is taking steps to prosecute the occupants for not complying with the Stop Notice.
Update: 19 January 2023
We issued a Stop Notice on 6 January, which was served by planning enforcement officers at the unauthorised caravan site off Tanhouse Road, Oxted. A Stop Notice prevents further development. Two planning enforcement officers visited the site on 18 January and did not see any new development taking place.
On 11 January, we were told by the Planning Inspectorate an appeal against the issue of the Planning Enforcement Notices had been submitted. Once the Planning Inspectorate gives us the appeal start date we will send notification letters to residents living near the site.
12 December 2022
On Saturday 10 December an unauthorised caravan site was set up on a field off Tanhouse Road in Oxted. Several caravans moved onto the site and work immediately began to lay hard surfacing and install drainage to connect to utility supplies.
A council officer and Oxted ward councillors visited the site twice over the weekend. On Sunday 11 December, the Council served a Temporary Stop Notice alleging there had been a breach of planning control on the site. Copies of the notice were fixed to the site. The Temporary Stop Notice remains in place for 28 days, expiring on Sunday 8 January 2023. The notice requires all work to cease.