Call to turn eyesore site into soccer pitch

Legal wrangle has lasted more than decade

VEXED villagers want action on an illegal traveller settlement they say has blighted the community for 12 years.

Residents in Groby have used a Parish Poll to vote on demands for the so-called Klondyke site to be bought and cleared by the borough, then redeveloped into a home football ground for Groby Juniors - a team once graced by a young Leicester City legend Emile Heskey.

The poll, which featured a series of questions on the future of the land off Newtown Linford Lane, resulted in a resounding ‘yes’ for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council to progress the plans for a compulsory purchase order (CPO) - initially aired years previously and agreed in principle six months ago.

Launched with the backing of all councillors the poll allowed villagers to air their frustration at lack of enforcement at Klondyke.

The site only has a legal planning use as allotments and villagers say the travellers’ unregulated settlement is “..an unacceptable blot on the local landscape.”

A rallying call statement, issued by the parish to encourage people to vote, explained the area was “..unlawfully invaded and enclosed..” over Christmas and New Year 2004/05 by travellers who had purchased a small strip of the land.

A caravan site was set up without permission leading to outrage in Groby and a protest petition signed by more than 2,000.

A merry-go-round of enforcement notices, injunctions, planning applications, refusals and appeals have ensued, costing the taxpayers thousands of pounds.

In September 2015 Arthur McDonagh, the owner of the strip within Klondyke, submitted an application for a ‘certificate of lawful existing use as a dwelling’ claiming the site had been used as a permanent residential dwelling since 1985.

The borough council refused on the grounds the use of the land had been changed without permission to allow for the siting of a twin mobile unit and served an enforcement notice in January 2016 only for the travellers to appeal to the Secretary of State against it.

In June the case was upheld in favour of appellant Arthur McDonagh.

In technical terms the enforcement notice was not applicable to the structure, which because of foundations and extensions, was now classed as a building.

The council is now considering its options.

In response to the parish poll, a council spokesman said an action plan had been agreed regarding the possible compulsory purchase of the land, and a crucial element, the creation of a business plan by Groby Juniors FC to bolster the case had been completed.

However, complications existed over land ownership with a substantial number of plots being unregistered.

This made it difficult to estimate costs for all aspects of the scheme.

The spokesman added sporting provision in Groby was being looked at as a priority and the parish council were being urged to generate a neighbourhood plan, to strengthen its position on areas of future development.

A report setting out enforcement recommendations on applicable areas of the site will go before the planning committee shortly.