Since our Parish Council meeting on Wednesday 6th of May, Felsted Parish Council has been in regular contact with UDC Councillors and officers, as well as the Essex Police.
We hope to be able to arrange a meeting with the police and UDC Enforcement officers early next week. We will keep you informed with a time and place as soon as we receive confirmation on availability.
We have also received very helpful information from UDC which we summarise below, and which we hope addresses parishioners’ concerns about the process that has been followed.
UDC have clarified why officers were unable to attend our parish council meeting on Wednesday.
Officers were progressing formal legal action with access to court and serving of court papers. This required officers being at their desks, finalising witness statements. This could not be achieved either by standing on site or attending our meeting. Due to the legal nature of proceedings, UDC could not divulge progress, tactics, or intentions on Wednesday evening.
UDC wants to reassure residents that, ‘contrary to the totally unfair and unfounded criticism of Uttlesford Officers’ of lack of action on this matter, officers have not been sitting on their hands!
On Thursday 7th, bailiffs acting on the Council’s behalf served papers of a temporary Injunction on the owners/occupiers of the Willows Green site, with a court date for next week for its confirmation. The key officer elements of this work were being progressed early on Wednesday evening. This was critical and time sensitive work and that’s why no UDC officer was able to join us at the parish council meeting.
The Parish Council and UDC are equally horrified by the magnitude of the activities in Willows Green and are united with the community across the parish in a shared objective of vigorously pursuing a legal resolution as quickly as possible.
We are aware that UDC are also acting on intelligence about other potential sites in the area, but again, to be ultimately legally successful UDC must act on proper evidence.
Finally, the sheer volume of referrals to UDC, substantially distracted UDC and threatened to delay action. No doubt born out of anger and frustration, some of the ‘referrals’ were unpleasant and abusive. That is demotivating and needs to stop!
Felsted Parish Council