A homeless benefit claimant who says "he's not doing anyone any harm" by setting up home in a shed close to the A12 faces eviction.
Tommy Hilden set up camp on a former travellers' haven on the A414 Three Mile Hill and is currently one of the 5,000 people on Chelmsford's City Council housing register.
But the 38-year-old, could be forced off the land and slapped with a £1,000 fine after a complaint
However, his position sparked fierce debate among Essex Chronicle readers, many of whom fear his move with and :
- Isobel Lewis: How about we all adopt that attitude and rather than me forking out my WAGES on bills, il just pitch up at the side of the road somewhere, hey we should all do it, why not?!
- Councillor Stephen Graham Farr: Leave the guy alone if thatcher had not sold off council houses there would be more to go around also the money made from the sales should have gone back into building more housing
- Lee Taylor: Genuinely feel for the bloke as he has been pro active in making himself a home when he has nothing, HOWEVER, if he is allowed to stay you risk opening a can of worms for every homeless person etc to put sheds up like this anywhere... I just wish the council would bully travellers like this poor sod, but they are too scared to enforce the law against a "minority", who behave far worse than this guy!!
- Rachael Berry: To those who say if he stays it will mean others will take advantage- how do you know that others aren't living in tents in the woods? I know I have seen tents tucked away in the Chelmer Valley nature reserve.
- Perhaps a small "rent" is the answer in this case. Oh and to the neighbour- there is a vast difference between a permenant extension and a temporary shed!
- Tim Thorogood: Leave him be. We should all have the basic human right to some space.
- Society is an idea, councils are an idea. Sure laws are to protect people but again these are just ideas. Animals can live where they want. Why can't he choose to opt out of the system. No one should be oppressed by a system they don't subscribe to.
- If he doesn't steal, harm anyone etc then whose behalf are the council acting on?
The executive director at Chelmsford homeless charity CHESS says Tommy Hilden's story surprises him.
But the number of people on the city council's housing register, revealed this week, does not shock Rob Saggs.
The charity provides a temporary home for up to 30 homeless people, some of them referred from the council, at its night shelter in George Street off Moulsham Street.
Mr Saggs said: "There is a drought in affordable accommodation available to people on low incomes at the moment and I do not see it easing any time soon.
"Sometimes people's expectations for accommodation from the council are unrealistic in our present climate."
The city council, which has 5,175 applicants on its housing register, placed 246 in housing and 459 with housing associations between September 2013 and September 2014 last year.
It spent £19,085.88 on its homeless strategy in September alone, which includes housing people in the Oasis Hotel in Harlow and Chelmer Hotel off Moulsham Street.
The council estimates there are 14 rough sleepers in the city, based on a 2013 report.
There are 8,829 on the housing list across mid-Essex, including Chelmsford, Maldon and Braintree.
Mr Saggs added: "I am not surprised by the number of people on the housing register, nor am I surprised by the rough sleeper count, as we help input with this annual figure.
Mr Saggs added: "CHESS helps in feeding and giving life-sustaining supplies to the rough sleepers in Chelmsford, we regularly see 10 or more rough sleepers approaching us for food, hot drinks and bedding on an evening at the night shelter."
"So the story of Tommy Hilden does surprise me."
