Beauty spot 'blighted' by deployment of caravans

A Cotswold beauty spot has been “blighted” by old and wrecked caravans which have been placed on it to stop "vandalism".

Verney Fields in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, has been a bone of contention between the town and the site’s new owners in recent years.

Residents had previously walked freely across the land there for many years.

The owners told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that “While caravans may seem like an unusual fencing material, we needed to use something more rigid which couldn’t be easily cut through".

Barbed wire fences were erected across the site last year after the land changed ownership.

The issue has become a matter of public concern and Stonehouse Town Council has submitted an application for town and village green status for the site, which has three public rights of way across it.

Tree preservation orders for the site were granted by Stroud District Council last November.

But now residents say old caravans have spoiled the views across the fields which lie within the Cotswold National Landscape.

Verney Fields’ owners say they have placed the caravans there because they have had to spend 200 hours repairing fences cut by vandals across the site.

However, many residents have criticised the move, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Steve Armstrong, a long-time resident of Verney Fields, said: “To return from a weekend away to be confronted by caravans dumped over a much loved-landscape was truly shocking.”

Scott Curtis, another resident, said he was shocked when he first saw the caravans on Verney Fields while walking a friend’s dog on Monday.

“It’s just the latest in a series of odd things that have happened in these fields over the last couple of years – none of which appear to have been to the benefit of the local environment or wildlife.”

A spokesperson for Windmill Farm, who manage the site, said the land is private and is being used for agriculture.

They say the caravans may seem like unusual fencing material but they need something that “couldn’t be easily cut through”.

“Sadly we have spent over 200 hours repairing cut through fences and vandalism since last autumn, time which has been taken away from other farming activities and cost us a great deal of loss," they added.

The owners say the current town and village green application would impose restrictions on apple tree planting if it were successful.

“If some members of the public are causing a disruption to agriculture, it is a farmer's right to take measures to enable themselves to farm their land; the public are not entitled to any ‘amenity’ or any part of our private farmland."

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