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

Today (Thursday 24 April 2025), we are serving 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. 

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.