Handyman vows to continue land fight (From This is Hampshire)

Handyman vows to continue land fight

8:00am Sunday 8th November 2009

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THE man believed to be the focus of a compulsory purchase decision by councillors is remaining defiant.

Last week Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s Cabinet agreed to give their planning chief the power of compulsory purchase over a plot of land in Tadley and North Baughurst ward.

The council has refused to confirm the precise location of the site.

However, it is believed to be a plot north of The Wellington Arms, in Baughurst Road, Baughurst, which is designated as agricultural and has a history of planning wrangles dating back to 1966.

Tony Charles, who says he owns the site, has been trying for years to obtain planning permission to build a cottage there to live in, including 10 such applications in the past 26 years.

He has even been to jail over it twice – the last time an 18-month sentence.

Mr Charles told The Gazette: “It’s typical council. They don’t speak to you. I’ve got no idea what this is about.

“I’d like a compulsory purchase because then I can squat and I’d have more rights.”

He said in the 1970s and 1980s, when there was no mains sewage nearby, he was told the land was too small for a septic tank, and subsequently the land was redesignated as agricultural – the reason now used to refuse his home applications.

The 64-year-old handyman is currently living in what he called a “shepherd’s hut” and also has on the land a couple of other huts and a gypsy caravan he made.

The Cabinet decision, which will await the outcome of enforcement action, also includes an option to seek voluntary purchase of land.

The Cabinet agreed to permit compulsory purchase if there was no agreement and the land was not “kept in an acceptable manner”.

Council leader Councillor Andrew Finney, who chairs the borough Cabinet, told The Gazette: “It’s purely to reinstate the site to its proper use, which in this particular case is agricultural.

“There is a long history which may at some stage come into the public domain.

“Local residents are well aware of it and are very supportive of the action.”

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