Residents of St Augustine's Estate in Chartham, near Canterbury, are being forced to buy grass verges and small plots of land near their homes for thousands of pounds amid fears of land grabs from travellers. The plots, which are designated as open public spaces, have been advertised as 'potentially suitable' for various uses, including portable homes, carbon capture, and forest schools. Locals claim they are being compelled to buy the plots out of fear of what could happen if someone else gets there first.
Villagers in Chartham , near Canterbury , are being forced to buy grass verges and small plots of land near their homes for thousands of pounds amid fears of land grabs from travellers.
Residents claim they are being compelled to buy the plots out of fear of what could happen if someone else gets there first. The plots, which are designated as open public spaces, have been advertised as 'potentially suitable' for various uses, including portable homes, carbon capture, and forest schools. This language has been described as 'inflammatory' by locals, who feel it is encouraging residents to buy the plots out of fear.
The situation has been exacerbated by the fact that several plots of land on Beech Avenue have been advertised online, sparking fears of traveller land grabs among locals. A woman living nearby in Little Copse Close said she was initially against buying the land outside her property, but now feels she has little choice.
Even though the sale of the plot outside her property recently fell through, nearby sites have already been fenced off after being sold, prompting her to intervene. She claimed another buyer had purchased a plot in hopes of building a summer home, only to find they had been 'misled' by advertising. Canterbury City Council confirmed the plots are protected open space, meaning applications for alternative uses are unlikely to succeed.
However, residents say reassurance from the city council does not go far enough in putting their minds at ease.
'What we don't know at the moment is how much the council are willing to enforce, or what they're willing to enforce,' the resident said. She added that locals believe the land should be 'maintained for public use', adding that she did not want the land.
' I'm being forced to buy it because we've got no clarity from the council about what the obligations are for the landowners,' she added. Mike Sole, a CCC councillor, said it was key that the city council quickly got to 'grips with enforcement'. He also said the local authority needs to contact vendors and order them to stop marketing the land for purposes for which it cannot be used.
The land on St Augustine's estate, where a former hospital was previously located, was initially owned by Growing Estates Ltd. It was later sold to Rubislaw Estates, a Scottish Property Development and Investment Firm, which almost immediately started selling the land. Emails previously sent by the company to Cllr Sole say that the firm intends to sell all of its holdings in Chartham and has no obligation to consult residents.
Cllr Sole described the situation as a 'scandal', saying he cannot understand why the land was not placed into a resident-owned management company from the outset.
'The only people making any gain out of this are the vendors of the land,' he continued. 'They're either trying to find people who are willing to take a punt and buy this land fairly cheaply, thinking they can put a caravan on it or something else, or they are scaring residents into having to spend their own savings to protect something that should already be protected by the planning conditions that were set out 30 years ago
Chartham Canterbury Land Grabs Travellers St Augustine's Estate
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Residents of St Augustine's Estate Claim They Are Being Forced to Buy Land Amid Fears of Traveller Land GrabsResidents of St Augustine's Estate in Chartham, near Canterbury, are claiming they are being forced to buy grass verges and small plots of land near their homes for thousands of pounds. The landowner, Rubislaw Estates Ltd, has put up several sites for auction, including roadside verges and small patches of grass between homes on the estate.
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