Martlesham Heath Householders

The following message has been received from Suffolk Coastal District Council in response to concerns from residents and ourselves about the camper-van on land behind Saddlers Place:

"On 11^th November 2008 a mobile home was brought onto the above land. On 12^th November the Council's Principal Planner and [a representative of the local constabulary] visited the site. They spoke to a gentleman who said he had been given permission by the land owner to live in his mobile home on the land for two to three weeks.

The use of land for the siting of a mobile home used for overnight accommodation is development requiring planning permission. The owner of the land and the occupier of the mobile home have both been advised of this. They have also been advised that it is unlikely that planning permission will be granted.

I am in the process of preparing an Enforcement Notice to cease this unauthorised use. If the mobile home has not been removed by 3^rd December 2008 the Notice will be served.

Whilst the Council would like this breach of planning control to cease as soon as possible I am sure you can understand that there are procedures which must be adhered to and for this reason a period of three weeks has be given to allow the mobile home to be removed and for the Notice to be prepared. It is also hoped in this time the mobile home will be removed and therefore no formal action will be needed." (SCDC)

We would like to make it clear that all the members of the Board of Martlesham Heath Householders Limited (MHHL) are residents of Martlesham Heath and as such very much share the concerns of all the residents with respect to maintaining the special character of the village. We all have a shared responsibility to maintain the character and charm of the village and MHHL welcomes proactive help from residents in achieving this aim.

MHHL had no prior warning of Grainger Residential's intent to auction the various parcels of land and (like everyone else) MHHL had to take a realistic view of the actions that could be taken given both time, the funds available and the benefits to the village as a whole and not purely the residents of the areas involved. The advice from both Suffolk Coastal and the Parish (and indeed Grainger Residential) was that the parcels of land at Lark Rise, the Northern Green (rear of Saddlers Place) and Horseman Court were all scheduled as "Amenity Land" only and could not be developed. Our expectation therefore was that these parcels of land would either be bought by residents seeking to extend their properties, or remain unsold and would then be transferred to MHHL by Grainger Residential in the ongoing discussions to tidy up the ownership of the outstanding land.

In the event the land was purchased by an individual from outside the village who appears to be intent on changing the scheduled usage away from amenity use and developing the land.

To be clear, the change of ownership from Grainger Residential to the new owner was a legal commercial transaction - the only way of stopping this was to out bid the current owner at auction. MHHL decided that it did not have the funds or the remit to outbid all comers in a commercial auction without going into debt.

MHHL will continue to monitor the situation and do what it can to oppose the change of use of land that was previously scheduled for amenity use, but in the end we all need to be vigilant and to ensure that through the due planning process the character of the village is not irreparably harmed by speculative development of any kind.

Many of these pieces of land are understood to be protected from development in the SCDC Local Plan. Please remain vigilant and report any concerns to SCDC via their switchboard on 01394 383789 as this will aid the District Council in taking immediate enforcement action.