Furious families living in celeb village object to travellers’ site

Plans for a prospective traveller encampment have sparked outrage in a pretty Buckinghamshire village adored by celebrities including The Osbournes and Cheryl Tweedy however some locals say they are ‘too scared’ to complain publicly. 

Councillors admitted there had been more than 70 objections to the plan for four pitches on a plot of Green Belt land in pretty Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire.

Rocker Ozzy Osbourne and wife Sharon resided in a hamlet just a mile away while Cheryl Tweedy also once lived in the village with her son Bear, seven.

Her ex, One Direction Star Liam Payne, lives close by in Chalfont St Giles, and around five miles away are Tess Daly and her husband Vernon Kay.

The so-called Chalfonts – made up of Chalfont St Peter, Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont – have long proved attractive to celebrities who are keen on the area’s rural location yet proximity to London – Chalfont St Peter lies just 5.7km north of the M25.

Plans for the traveller site were submitted to Buckinghamshire Council last August following a long fight for three families with ten children to live there.

An application for a stable block was approved, but further applications to make it larger and then turn it into a home were refused.

The travellers have been living at an unlawful site nearby but claim they feel intimidated there because they are ethnically different from some of the other families.

Some of their children also have complex health needs.

They were served with an eviction notice in February and will become homeless if they cannot live on the land in Chalfont St Peter.

But locals have not been accommodating, saying they could not support the plans.

Speaking at a council meeting on the matter, planning officer Melanie Beech said 43 objections had been received since a report was written on the matter.

‘It is inappropriate development, which is harmful by definition,’ she said.

‘The proposed development is for four pitches, each pitch consists of a mobile home, a touring caravan, two car parking spaces and a private patio area.

‘The proposed development would also cause some harm to the rural character of the area by introducing mobile homes and touring caravans onto a rural site.’

She went on to say that the local objections mainly related to ‘extra pressure on local services such as wastewater systems and local sewage plants, extra pressure on local school and medical facilities, impact on the green belt and local wildlife, fear of the site being extended in future, particularly given the planning history of the site, impact on the pupils at Robertswood School, anti social behaviour of the travelling community, traffic congestion and highway hazards, no justified need for the development.’

To mitigate the effect on the Green Belt, the existing stables will remain but an area of hardstanding will become ornamental grasses.

Extensive landscaping is also proposed, with 775 sq m of native woodland to be planted to act as a buffer, along with 350m of hedgerow.

There will also be 65 new native trees put in for screening.

Removal of existing block fencing and gates will take place and post and rail that is more in keeping will be added.

Gipsy planning expert Dr. Angus Dougal Stanislaw Murdoch, who represented the applicants, said the application should be approved because ‘very special circumstances exist which clearly outweigh the Green Belt and other harms.’

He added: ‘For the last 29 years, this local planning authority (LPA) has effectively disregarded government advice where Gypsy site provision is concerned, with the result that unauthorised sites (both encampments and developments) have been the inevitable result.

‘These failings on the part of the LPA to comply with government guidance weigh heavily in favour of allowing this application.

‘Should this appeal be dismissed, I understand the site occupants would be likely to become homeless and would need to return to travelling, including possibly staying on the roadside.

‘There is a risk this would result in the children being removed from their current education provision. It would make links to health care more difficult, especially as constant monitoring is required for at least two children.

‘One of the families needs the support that is available from the other two families, so it would be extremely difficult if they were to be separated.

‘That could have a significant effect on the children’s development, whose best interests are a primary consideration in this appeal.’

Speaking at a planning meeting where the application was approved, ward councillor Cllr Isobel Darby said 70 objections had been received, and many were scared to put their names to them.

‘A number of people approached councillors saying they felt very frightened about putting in a formal objection identifying themselves and that’s a sad reflection on the strange relationships in Chalfont St Peter today with the existing travelling community and I’m not talking about the applicants here,’ she said.

Those in favour of the development argued that there was a need for traveller accommodation in the district.

There were no objections from consultees including the Highway Authority, the lead local flood authority, a tree officer, an ecology officer or an Environmental Protection officer.

The application was approved with strict conditions – that work will be completed within five years and only gypsy and traveller families can live there.

Ozzy and wife Sharon moved back to Buckinghamshire last year after a long spell in the US.

Sharon cited the rural nature of their 120-year-old home in Jordans, which lies right next to Chalfont St Peter.

Meanwhile Cheryl moved to a mansion in the village in 2018, which was partially bought for her by ex Liam Payne.