Planning application rejected

During the March 2007 meeting of Binton Parish Council it was reported that a letter had been received from the Evironment Agency. This stated that the Agency was opposed to any further expansion of the caravan site at Binton Bridges because it was on a flood plain. It will oppose any future applications for the same reasons. This would appear to be a major set back to the current owners ,Mr & Mrs Terry Charles, who according to local people paid far too much for the caravan site and the adjoining field and now have no way of making it profitable.

John and Janet's Eviction

We purchased a caravan on this site in June 2006 and everything was great to start with. The site was nice and friendly and I could spend time fishing and pottering about improving the caravan and the pitch. Then,on 1st Aug 06, a new park owner took over and the atmosphere changed suddenly and we were bombarded with letters about all the things that were not allowed under the new ownership.
For example there were to be no bird tables,no feeding the ducks or geese except in the river, but you were not permitted to go on the staging at the rivers edge unless you were accessing a boat. This was only possible if you had a boat and had paid the park owner for a mooring.
Also lots of people on the site were keen gardeners who took a lot of pride in their floral displays and they were all dismayed to be ordered to remove all but 3 pots per pitch. A lot of trees and shrubs were to be removed but nobody was to take any home without prior permission from the park owners. This all came as quite a shock because the previous owners sent a letter of farewell a few days earlier praising everbody for their efforts in enhancing the appearance of the park.
Other conditions newly imposed were to remove solar lights and post boxes, to not have gatherings on the park. We were even told what to think with reference to the park owners son and whether he was on site to act as a spy or not !
Our next door caravan had 2 or 3 visits from the park owners and our neighbours abrubtly packed up and left. Rumours were rife about who would be the next to be targetted. We were then tipped off by the site busybody that we should stop talking to a sick pensioner neighbour who was undergoing a divorce because she had been heard criticising the park owners or we would be the next to be evicted. This we refused to do because we had always found her a kind and helpful person who had welcomed us on the park and she was friendly to everyone.
Shortly after this ,on 18th Sept, we received a letter giving notice to quit and remove our caravan by the end of Dec. The official reason was to make way for a new access road but it stated that there was no alternative pitch to offer us on the park. This is against the guidelines set out by the British Holiday and Park Homes Association of which Binton Bridges Park is a member. This caused us a lot of stress as we are both pensioners with health concerns and awaiting operations. It proved impossible to find an alternative pitch on another park so we were forced to accept a low offer from the park owners which left us out of pocket to the tune of several thousand pounds.We received no compensation for the stress or loss of use of the van and were not reimbused for the pitch fee we had paid. Just to add insult to injury when the site reopened on 1st Mar 07 there was no access road but a new caravan containing the new owner's son !!!
Since then we have heard that the neighbour who openly criticised the owners has been evicted and the site busybody has also told another caravan's people that they are next on the list.
We feel sorry for any of the remaining caravans but would advise everyone to keep away from this park under the current ownership or you will be like lambs to the slaughter just as we were.

County Council action against site owner

The current owner of this caravan site seems to be determined to upset as many people as possible. When he bought the site on 1st Aug 2006 he also bought the adjoining field with the idea that he could extend his empire by setting a further 50 caravans on it. However his planning application was rejected and he has been left with a very expensive field and nothing he can do with it. However when he took over the land it already had a very nice area next to the road which had been constructed by the Welford on Avon Millenium Comittee some years before with the permission of the previous owner. This featured a dipping platform over a tributory from the river and some steps and fencing. The new owner immediately wrote to the comittee to inform them that this area was now out of bounds and they were not allowed to access their own fencing etc for maintenance purposes. Legal challenges have been mounted and the site owner has been given a deadline to remove fencing which he has installed to block access. This deadline has been extended but there is a meeting scheduled on site tomorrow Tuesday 2nd Oct to determine whether the owner will remove the offending items himself or alternatively Warwickshire County Council will get the work done and send him the bill.

20 July 2007 No way in or out of Binton Bridges

View of Binton Bridges Park from the air

here is an image from Google Earth
This picture is out of date but does show how nice the park used to be.....