A SMALL band of caravan owners have been set a February deadline by Maldon District Council to clear a patch of land they have called home for more than 30 years.
Up to ten caravan and motorhome owners have used the Blackwater Estuary Estate in Maldon Road, Bradwell-on-Sea, since 1981, but face eviction if they do not leave.
The estate has around 100 separate plot owners, who mostly visit as holidaymakers in the summer, but the council has refused to grant permission to allow people to stay on the site, even temporarily.
In September, Neville Saveall and his partner Jean Gossage applied for permission to allow their motorhome to remain there permanently. But Maldon District Council turned them down.
Since then the couple claim the council has asked other residents to leave after a site visit last month.
Jean, 49, who works as a lorry driver for Travis Perkins, stays at the park occasionally, but after the council visit has moved to a lay-by near the site entrance.
She told the Chronicle: "We just don't think it's fair at all. We have long-standing ties with Bradwell and the local area. I have been here on-and-off for almost 40 years."
Residents have been set a deadline of the end of February to move or face eviction from the 27-acre estate.
Ms Gossage added: "If we're evicted I don't know what we'll do. Like some of the others on here, we can't afford to buy a home, so we have been forced to live by the roadside seconds from our own land.
"We have deep roots here. My children have gone to school from the site and in the past people have paid council tax from the plots here. I can't stress enough to the council that we don't want to build anything on here.
"The support from the local community has been brilliant, people know that we look after the land and we have strict rules about rubbish and who can come on here."
Retiree Mr Saveall, 69, bought his plot in 1981 but has been visiting since as early as 1971 when he says he remembers the land being sold as 400 leisure plots.
Maldon District Council refused his application for permanent parking because of "visual encroachment and harm to the character" of the rural landscape.
"We are all closed in here with mature trees and fields surrounding the site so I don't see how this could be a visual intrusion to anyone," said Mr Saveall.
"We would be happy to pay some money to the council, for instance, in the form of ground rent to stay. All we want is the legal right to be able to stay on our land for some periods during the year."
Maldon District Council can give permission for leisure sites or caravan parks to open for certain months of the year.
Ms Gossage added: "To just receive a 'no' wasn't very helpful. There must be some form of middle ground."
Councillor Penny Channer, chairman of the council's planning and licensing committee, said: "The council has previously informed those on the site of the ongoing breach, and a number of people have removed their caravans and other such items from the land.
"However, the council now has no option but to take firm action against those who are persistently breaching the planning enforcement notice which has been placed on this land.
"This latest action has seen officers from the council attend the site in order to ascertain what is left on the land, whilst also giving notice to the occupiers.
"Although the council would always try to resolve issues without such direct action, it is important that the planning rules are adhered to and the council will not hesitate to take similar action where breaches of planning enforcement have occurred."
Mr Saveall and Ms Gossage have since appealed to stay on the site.
