High Court allows 12 caravans to remain near Winston Churchill family home until trial
Judge amends injunction to preserve current status quo at Seasons Farm in Kent while courts consider competing claims over land clearance and development
A High Court judge on Monday amended an interim injunction to allow 12 caravans and their occupants to remain on privately owned land near Sir Winston Churchill’s family home until the case is heard in full.
The site at Seasons Farm, in the village of Pootings in Sevenoaks, Kent, sits a few miles from Chartwell. Travellers arrived at the field at about 5 p.m. on Aug. 22 and, according to council and local statements, cleared a large section of farmland and erected fencing, static caravans and artificial turf in what opponents described as a rapid development carried out over a long weekend.
Sevenoaks District Council secured an initial High Court order on Aug. 24 preventing further development at the site. At a further hearing, Mrs Justice Henrietta Hill amended the order to preserve the existing position "however that has been reached," saying that the caravans already on the land may stay until a future hearing but that no further caravans or occupants may be brought onto the site.
"Essentially, this does preserve the current status quo, however that has been reached; wrongly, in [the Council's] case, [or] appropriately in the defendants' case," Mrs Justice Hill said. "You both can't be correct. Those [caravans] already on the land can stay until a further hearing. I am extending the interim order granted by Mr Justice Dove."
The amendment leaves the contested factual and legal issues to be resolved at trial, which is expected to take place in January after both sides collect expert evidence, the judge said.
Local Conservative MP Laura Trott said the works were carried out "cynically" and appeared timed to precede any council injunction. She said the activity, which she said included more vehicles arriving after the initial injunction, breached planning rules and that the matter would be raised with government ministers. "This is completely unacceptable," she told reporters.
Counsel for parties associated with the landowners, acting through solicitor Alan Masters, told the High Court the original injunction "should never have been made," arguing the owners were permitted to move caravans onto the site and that the presence of caravans should have prompted inquiries into welfare. Five people were named on the original injunction as owners or occupiers of the land: Patrick Delaney, William Harrington, John Quilligan, Thomas O'Brien and Thomas Coffey.
Sevenoaks District Council described the scale and pace of the works introduced over the bank holiday weekend as "extraordinary" and said that, if works continued after the initial injunction was served, those responsible could face criminal charges. After Monday's hearing, a council spokesperson said the amended injunction had been confirmed but that the council would "explore all legal options available to us."
The dispute raises questions about planning enforcement and the remedies available to councils when unauthorised developments occur quickly. The court's interim measure preserves the current occupants' presence on the land while preventing any expansion, and leaves to a future hearing the determination of whether the works breached planning law, whether the landowners authorised the activity and what remedies are appropriate.
Both sides will now prepare expert evidence ahead of the January hearing, when a judge will be asked to rule on the competing factual and legal claims and on the longer-term status of the encampment and the cleared land.