The following is a note from the owners of Gibralter Farm, Silverdale, a camping site which has been host to the North West Section's fabulous annual Silverdale Rally since 1994. It seems that the site is under threat of closure because of, it seems to us, unscupulous claims regarding use of land without planning.

Take a moment or two to read the following
and add your voice in support of the owners.

Dear Friend of Gibraltar Farm

Earlier this year a small group of local residents made a complaint
to Lancaster City Council Planning Department alleging that the
caravan site at Gibraltar Farm had recently expanded onto “the
hill” (to the right of the road when coming down into the site) and
into “the wood” (to the left of the toilet block through the gate).
As you will know from your visits to our site, the areas used for the
pitching of caravans have remained unchanged for many years. As
a matter of fact the use began over 30 years ago. The only recent
new developments were the installation of electric hook ups and
hard standing pitches on “the hill” which took place during the
winter of 2008/9. We believe that the complainants mistook this
upgrading work as an extension to the site when in truth caravans
have always been sited on this area.

Click here for a plan of the site showing areas mentioned

In the event Lancaster City Council challenged us and we were
required to submit an application for a Certificate of Lawful Use.
This is required where a use of land has been continuously
ongoing for a period of 10 years or longer and it thereby becomes
immune from action. Lawfulness has to be proved to the Council
and therefore the application contained 10 sworn affidavits and a
number of letters from campers and local residents who have been
coming to, walking through or working at Gibraltar Farm regularly
for the required period and indeed longer. They stated that they
could confirm that all the areas shown on the plan attached to this
letter had been used for pitching caravans for more than 10 years.

We were extremely grateful for their help.
In normal circumstances the evidence submitted to the Council
would have been more than sufficient to obtain a Certificate.
However, the complainants mounted a campaign to discredit our
claims and provided what were (in our opinion) unsubstantiated
and inaccurate statements to the Planning Department.

As a result, the Council refused the application.
It is now expected that the Council will serve an enforcement
notice to stop areas B and C being used as a caravan site. We
intend to lodge appeals against both the refusal of a certificate and
the notices. These will be heard by a government inspector at a
public inquiry sometime next year (2010).

We have engaged the services of a specialist planning consultant
to deal with these matters and he has advised us to collect as
much more additional evidence as possible prior to the appeals
going ahead. It is imperative that we do as much as we can as
failure will lead to the loss of the majority of our site.
Can You Help?

If you have been visiting us for 10 years or longer then you may be
able to help. It is not important whether you stayed in a caravan or
a tent in the camping field – it is what you saw on the caravan site
during your visit that is important.

We have already been contacted voluntarily by a few long term
users of the site who have heard about our difficulties and have
offered to attend the inquiry and give evidence. They are able to
confirm the extent of the caravan site over the years and in some
cases have old photographs, which of course is extremely helpful.
In the first instance we would be grateful to anyone who can help
and would be prepared to attend the inquiry. Your stay at Gibraltar
Farm for the duration would of course be free of charge as a token
of our gratitude.

If you have useful information but do not feel able to attend the
inquiry then we would still like to hear from you. We could arrange
for your evidence to be put into the form of an affidavit and sworn
by a solicitor local to you if you were agreeable. Our consultant will
make arrangements and draft the papers.
Thank You

If you think you can help in anyway or want any more information
please contact our planning consultant Glynn Burgin on,

Tel: 07896 027487

email: glynn.burgin@yahoo.co.uk

 

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