Update from Newark and Sherwood District Council in relation to an unlawful development in Weston

The terms within the injunction mean that there is a maximum cap of 42 caravans and motor homes on the site.  Further a list of all persons living on the site must be provided to the courts within two weeks.  This gives us, and the court, absolute clarity on who is living on the site and ensures that no one else moves into these 42 caravans and motor homes. The injunction does not require the removal of the site, but it does restrict any further works until such time as the enforcement appeal is decided.

The District Council will continue to prepare its defence for this appeal and will keep residents informed. We are now in the hands of the Planning Inspectorate as to when this will happen. In our experience, this could take some time, but we will continue to push for this to happen as soon as possible. This remains an incredibly challenging situation, and it is completely understandable that residents, like us too, are frustrated and concerned with what has happened. We will continue to monitor the site given that breaching an injunction is a very serious matter.

Previous updates:

On Friday 2 May 2025, in response to the unauthorised development, Newark and Sherwood District Council has served 40 separate enforcement notices on the occupants of the land. The notice requires removal of every caravan/ mobile home and restoration of the site back to its previous condition. The District Council shares residents’ frustration that the earliest the notice can take effect is 28 days from when it is served. In this case, the effective date is 29 May 2025.

Immediately after the enforcement notice was served, an appeal was submitted to the Secretary of State. The District Council will oppose the appeal, but the enforcement notice is paused pending the outcome of the appeal (which will be determined by an Inspector appointed by national Government). The District Council will do all it can to hurry the appeal along, but the timescale is not within our gift to determine. The fact that an unauthorised development can take place without planning permission and any subsequent enforcement action paused pending the outcome of an appeal is a further frustration and irritation.

In addition to serving enforcement notices, the District Council also went to Court to secure injunctions against any further activity on the site. Like any case presented to court, a huge amount of work is required to prepare papers for the Judge, brief the District Council’s barrister and ensure all legal loopholes are covered as far as possible. The District Council was successful in securing injunctions which were served at the site and at addresses in Liverpool and Essex. The District Council is back in court on 7 May 2025. The main difference between an injunction and enforcement notice is the penalty for a breach, which in the case of an injunction is considered contempt of court, a serious matter which could result in imprisonment. The District Council is very much alive to the possibility of the injunction being breached and local residents can be assured that activity on the site is being monitored. Updates will be provided back to the court on 7 May 2025.

This is an incredibly challenging situation and it is completely understandable that local residents are frustrated and concerned. Could we have done more in the early stages of the work taking place is a reasonable question to ask. The reality is that even if the courts had been open (which they weren’t), it is highly unlikely that an injunction would have been granted to cease the works rather than dealing with the unauthorised development through the planning enforcement and appeal process. The other possibility would have been to issue something called a Temporary Stop Notice which is rarely used and only in situations where there is a serious breach of control that could lead to serious harm. ‘Harm’ is defined in planning terms, for example damage to heritage buildings, trees and serious highways concerns. Without in any way lessening the impact of what has happened, the unauthorised development did not meet the test of ‘serious harm’ in planning terms.

In terms of next steps, the District Council will prepare a defence to the appeal against the enforcement notice and has engaged a barrister to present its case for the injunction when we return to court. The District Council will continue to monitor the site and is aware of concerns about further unauthorised developments. The law does not allow us to draw a ring around areas of land and protect them, much as we might want to. This coming bank holiday, a small team will be on standby to liaise with the Police should there be any alleged breach of the injunction.

If we receive reports of further unauthorised activity beyond the site which is subject to the current injunction, including elsewhere within the district, we will investigate. If something is done which is unacceptable in planning terms we will take appropriate enforcement and injunction action as soon as practicable. Given the limitations described above, this is unlikely to mean immediate intervention unless it is considered to be ‘serious harm’ in planning terms.

Residents can raise concerns to planningenforcement@newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk Please also report any alleged breach of the injunction at the site in Weston to the Police.

On Good Friday, 18 April 2025, we were made aware of an unlawful development in Weston, located between Tuxford and Sutton-on-Trent along the side of the A1. Within 24 hours, working overnight, occupiers of this site had built tarmacadam roads, removed hedges, created entrances, put up fences and positioned plots, known as pitches. As of this morning, Thursday 24 April 2025, there were approximately 40 pitches on site.

On Thursday 24 April 2025, we served an enforcement notice on the landowners and occupiers.  This means that the occupiers must “Cease the use of the land as a caravan site and remove all caravans and mobile homes from the land.”  The notice takes effect 28 days after it has been served (the minimum period legally required), which means that those occupiers on the site are required to vacate it by 30 May 2025 under the terms of the enforcement notice, subject to any appeal against the notice. The enforcement notice also requires that the land must be returned to the state it was prior to the occupiers arriving and, the development which has taken place within three months. There is a right of appeal against an enforcement notice and if an appeal is made then this suspends the effect of the notice until the process is concluded. If this right is exercised a decision on whether to uphold or quash the notice will be made by the Planning Inspectorate, an independent appeal body who act on behalf of Central Government.

On Friday 25 April 2025, Newark and Sherwood District Council secured an Injunction Order for unauthorised works on land at Weston in Nottinghamshire.

A copy of the Order is available here: Weston Injunction Order (PDF File, 2,509kb), as well as a copy of the application and evidence relied upon: Weston Injunction Application and Evidence (PDF File, 12,513kb).

The Injunction Order prevents any further building works or additional caravans/mobile homes being brought onto the site. If a caravan/mobile home is removed from the land it may not be replaced with another caravan/mobile home nor may it be returned to the land.

A further court hearing is scheduled for 10am on 7 May 2025, which will allow any defendants to address the court and revisit whether the injunction should continue. Breaching an Injunction Order is a serious matter.

We understand residents’ frustration and concerns over this unlawful development. We are working as diligently and as quickly as possible to ensure we are doing all we can to address the situation.  

We will continue to provide updates on this web page but hope the below frequently asked questions may provide some answers to your questions.

Frequently asked questions

What is unlawful development?

Unlawful development is where there is any development of land including a material change of use that does not benefit from planning permission. In this case, tarmacadam roads and fences for example, have been installed on a site where there is no planning permission or appropriate use of land for such development to take place.

How does an unlawful development differ to an unauthorised encampment?

An unauthorised encampment usually relates to where a group of caravans arrive on a site, where there is no permission for them to be located there, and the landowner would seek to move them on but there is no associated development.

Do developments for permanent encampments need planning permission?

Yes.  Stationing a caravan on land for residential use requires planning permission.  An application for planning permission must be made to the Local Planning Authority, in this case Newark and Sherwood District Council.

What happens when an unlawful development is set up?

If there has been a breach of planning control, or no planning permission has been granted, then the local planning authority, in this case Newark and Sherwood District Council, can issue an enforcement notice. An enforcement notice must be served 28 days before it can take effect. There is a right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate against an enforcement notice.

What happens if an enforcement notice is not adhered to?

If someone fails to comply with an enforcement notice within the period for compliance (subject to any appeal), the local planning authority can take direct action to enter the land in order to remedy the breach of planning control.  It is a criminal offence to contravene an enforcement notice, unless there is an outstanding appeal. If there is an appeal, the enforcement notice, and any timescales to remedy the breach of planning control it refers to are placed on hold until the appeal is decided.

Why did you not issue the enforcement notice on Friday when it was reported to you that work on the site had started? 

An enforcement notice does not prevent any works immediately as legally it can only come into force a minimum 28 days after service. In any event, the Council must demonstrate planning harm, which in this case is principally arising from the occupation of the site.

How does this site differ from unauthorised encampments that we have had in Newark and Sherwood that come and go, for example, the recent encampment at Collis Close in Newark?

Other encampments are unauthorised because they amount to trespassing, either on District Council land or land owned by somebody else, without permission. If an unauthorised encampment is on District Council land, we normally take legal action to order the occupiers to leave. This site is different because to our knowledge this is not a case of trespassing, but rather lack of planning permission, so different legal procedures apply.

How does this site differ from other permanent encampments that we have in Newark and Sherwood?

We have a strong tradition of permanent Gypsy, Roma and Traveller settlement within the district – particularly in the Newark and Ollerton areas across, at the last count, 21 permanent sites host 322 individual pitches.