OLYMPIC campsite organisers have angered their neighbours with plans to open their gates for three times as long as they originally announced.


The site at the former Old Foresters’ Club in Theydon Bois was first advertised as a temporary campsite to be used between July 25 and August 14, but campaigners say visitors have been pitching tents there since mid-May and organisers now want to keep the toilets and showers until September 30.

David McKelvey, chairman of the Theydon Bois Action Group, which has been monitoring the site, said: “These people just run rough-shod over the planning rules.

“It’s causing a nuisance and I think some residents of Forest Drive have complained.”

He said temporary buildings that developers were supposed to remove after they were refused permission for a foster care centre on the site were still there and the council’s failure to have them removed so far set a worrying precedent.


“Unfortunately, we rely on the council to do their job and they seem powerless,” he added. “There are enforcement notices on those Portakabins and those are the very buildings they’re using.”


The group is also worried that the campsite will damage the Green Belt land it is in, as piles of wood chippings have been delivered to soak up water from the ground and a gravel path has been constructed through the middle.


Committee member Diane Gillespie said: “I was over there on Saturday morning, as we had friends staying and went for a walk – what a mistake.


“The litter is starting to mount up and blow about and there’s a makeshift bridge across a drainage trench.

“They’ve put the Portakabins on and felt they’ve gotten away with that with the council and now they’re doing the same thing again.”


The group is calling on residents to attend a parish council planning meeting at Theydon Bois Village Hall in Coppice Row tomorrow night (Thursday) to discuss the site.


George Dilloway, one of the campsite's organisers, said: “We’ve had no problems at all. All the campers are working, so they’re not having any rave-ups or anything.


“We’ve got our own security there. (Visitors) all have terms and conditions and if anyone is noisy or misbehaves, they will be rejected from the campsite.”


He said toilets and showers had started to arrive at the site in May, but no tents had been pitched until June and added that the wood chips would be removed after camping had finished there.


An Epping Forest District Council spokeswoman said: “We are taking enforcement action on this site regarding the enforcement notice for the Portakabins and the electricity building. However, it is a long process.”


She said a planning officer would recommend the council take direct action to clear the site at a meeting on August 24.

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