Essex field allegedly concreted over in overnight traveller site build

A four-acre field in Willows Green, near Felsted in Essex, was turned into a flashpoint after residents said around 30 vehicles, including cars, vans and diggers, arrived under cover of darkness and the land was quickly covered in concrete, fencing, hardcore, caravans and subdivided plots.

The site has been at the centre of an escalating row since Friday 1 May, when work began within hours of Uttlesford District Council closing for the bank holiday weekend. Residents described the operation as a “military operation”, with floodlights and generators used through the night as the field changed almost beyond recognition.

The dispute has now spilled online. One of the site’s 12 plots was advertised for sale on Facebook for an undisclosed price, described as being close to Braintree and London Stansted Airport. The listing highlighted how quickly a disputed development can be turned into a commodity, even as local authorities try to determine whether the land use is lawful and who can intervene before more plots are sold.

Conservative Braintree MP Sir James Cleverly accused those behind the work of “gaming the system” and called it an “unauthorised traveller development”. He said the build started just after the council shut for the weekend and urged ministers to act against building work carried out outside normal council hours, when enforcement teams can be slower to respond.

Uttlesford District Council said it was aware of the alleged unauthorised development, ordered the work to stop and later secured a temporary injunction against further development. Felsted Parish Council said bailiffs served injunction papers on Thursday 7 May, with a court hearing set for the following week.

The council had already refused planning permission in February 2026 for a three-bedroom log cabin on the field, saying it would “significantly harm the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside.” Public records show the agricultural land was bought for £125,000 on 30 April 2025 by UK Real Estate and Land 2 Limited, though BBC reporting said the company dissolved two days before the deal completed.

The wider planning argument is now colliding with the district’s traveller accommodation duties. Council papers cited by the BBC said Uttlesford needed 35 traveller pitches across the district as of December 2025, while the council’s five-year land supply statement, based on a December 2024 assessment, put the total identified need to 2041 at 90 pitches. That tension between unmet need and contested development has left the field at the centre of a legal and political battle, while residents say rare albino deer, great crested newts and badgers once lived there before the works began.