Frensham Court/Frensham Country Park/ Symondstone Conservation Action Group

Symondstone Farm, Churt, now known as Frensham Court / Frensham Country Park, has run a holiday caravan park for many years, operating between Easter to the end of September. The original licence for the site being for 70 caravans for holiday use.

Symondstone Farm on Wishanger Lane, Churt, now known as Frensham Court / Frensham Country Park, has run a holiday caravan park for many years, operating between Easter to the end of September. The original current licence for the site being for 70 caravans for holiday use only.

As many of you will be aware, the previous owners (Countrywide Park Homes) applied for a Lawful Development Certificate (LDC) for the stationing of caravans for permanent residential use. See East Hants District Council Planning Application Reference: 35158 /005

This application circumvented usual planning rules so that factors such as traffic and environmental impact would not be taken into account as is the norm with a normal planning application. . The Developers intention was to maximise the amount of 'permanent' 2-3 bedroom mobile homes on the 8. 5 acre plot, the target being in the region of 140 properties for full-time permanent residential use.

SCAG coordinated the community's challenge to the LDC application mustering resources including the neighbouring council of Waverley, the National Trust, Surrey Hills AONB, Surrey Hills Society, CPRE, Surrey Wildlife Trust, and other national organisations and local councils. SCAG also ensured that the site was the focus of coverage in both the national and local media including the BBC, radio, and press.

In total over 400 objections were lodged and this was supported by legal opinions by the UK's leading QC's in property law funded by SCAG and the wider community of Churt.

Following our legal submissions EHDC ruled against the LDC application for residential use - a significant victory for the local community. However, EHDC, despite extremely strong legal representations on our part, allowed the site to be extended from its original 8. 5 acres to 10 acres. This brought the site up to the boundary of Wishanger Lane.

EHDC also removed the limit on caravan numbers on site, this originally being seventy units and now limited only by spacing requirements - this being in the vicinity of 135 caravans.

Despite our "victory" regarding the LDC application, SCAG continues to hold both EHDC and the owners of the site to account. For example, there remain issues with the boundary of the site being incorrect, potential prior breeches of the site licence, and the entrance gates being in breech of planning and requiring permission. These are all issues we will be raising with both EHDC and the new owners of the site, Royale Park Homes.

Besides the LDC aplication, SCAG also recently brought to the public's attention the previous owners application to discharge secondary treated sewage waste into the feeder for Frensham Great Pond. As with the LDC application we ensured widespread public awareness of the application and coordinated the response of national bodies such as the NT, Surrey Hills AONB, and numerous others to this. The negative response to the application was of such strength that Countrywide Park Homes failed to support their application and it was deemed withdrawn by the Environment Agency. We believe that their failure to obtain this licence, and their being unable to obtain residential use for the site, ultimately resulted in CWPH's decision to sell the site.

SCAGS remit continues to be to ensure that the site operators adhere to their site licence, curtailment of inappropriate lighting, ensuring that the holiday restriction is not flouted, and holding EHDC to account regarding their management of the site. As such, we continue our fight to ensure that any development is both lawful, within the terms of the site licence, and as sensitive to the environment and locality as possible.