Overview
- Local officials say heavy plant and tipper trucks laid hardcore and moved caravans onto several greenfields over the late-May bank holiday weekend, prompting urgent complaints from neighbours and councils.
- South Cambridgeshire District Council obtained an emergency High Court injunction late on Sunday to stop work and occupation at the Moor Drove site near Cottenham, with the order banning habitation, bringing in structures, laying materials, carrying out engineering works and removing vegetation.
- Horsham District Council issued Temporary Stop Notices at a West Chiltington site during the same weekend and says investigations are ongoing and further formal action may follow.
- National reporting has linked multiple recent purchases to a group of companies and named a former director, but councils and police say those corporate and criminal links remain under investigation and are not yet proven.
- Councils warn the tactic exploits reduced enforcement over long weekends and can lead to irreversible damage to greenbelt, wildlife and local property values, and they expect further court hearings and possible retrospective planning battles to follow.