Travellers have unveiled a sign for a new ‘illegal’ farm in Surrey – less than a week after more than a dozen caravans arrived over Easter.
‘All hell’ descended on the sleepy home county village of Alford on April 2, when the group transformed a rural field into a 17-plot ‘gated community’.
It followed similar ‘land grabs’ in Sunbridge, Kent, and Flamstead village, Hertfordshire, over the bank holiday weekend.
Another influx of travellers has now arrived at Alfold – spurring new building work and prompting fears from locals that house prices may decrease by five figures.
A brand new sign at the site reads: ‘Yellow Stone Farm, 1-17.’
Fresh building work continued until Friday afternoon, before an injunction was brought in making it illegal to carry on.
Locals have described the occupation as an ‘almighty insult’ and the injunction as ‘too little, too late’.
Rseidents also fear another empty field nearby will also become home to a fresh group of travellers during next month’s Bank Holiday weekend.
One person said: ‘The whole situation is a massive slap in the face. It’s an almighty insult. Even more arrived on Friday, it’s a disgrace.
‘They do what they want. They have even put up a sign which says Yellow Stone Farm. They have given themselves a name. It shows a complete lack of respect.’
The resident added people were ‘terrified’ – describing the travellers as an ‘intimidating group’.
They said: ‘They just arrived on Friday again. The council talk about this injunction but the horse has bolted.
‘They are properly settled now. They don’t need to do any more work, they are all set up.’
Another local, Rosemary, said she was worried another group would arrive in another empty field.
She explained: ‘There’s another Bank Holiday next month and an empty field opposite. We know what’s going to happen.
‘We have already warned the council.
‘The council and police are scared of the travellers. It is shocking.’
Councillor Liz Townsend confirmed an interim injunction was granted at an emergency meeting at the High Court on April 10.
Residents in Surrey had first reported strange activity when they saw people they didn’t recognise measuring the widths of the road on April 1.
But just a day later, it became clear why – when 30 to 40 grab lorries containing pipes, wood, aggregate, and steel arrived to create an entire community on the land.
Working day and night over the Easter weekend, 21 caravans and five static homes were soon brought to the site.
Police were called, but locals said they were told it was a matter for the council.
Father-of-two Peter Foy, 52, lives a five-minute walk away from the site.
He said construction work had been taking place until the early hours of each morning – with lights from the site visible across the sleepy village at night.
Mr Foy added: ‘At roughly 4pm on Thursday afternoon, all hell descended upon us.
‘They’ve erected a huge fence around it – they’ve made a gated community, with great big steel doors on it.
‘There was caravan after caravan after caravan and huge lorries with the static mobile homes on as well.
‘They’ve now concreted over God knows what from late Thursday. If the council could do the potholes in as much time, we’d be loving it.’
Jane Austin, a Conservative councillor on Waverley District Council said the impact on daily life in the village had been ‘significant’.
She added: ‘It’s just disbelief actually that it’s happening. Separate from other sites of this nature, this is actually right on the edge of other people’s doorsteps, it’s right in the centre of the village.’
Despite it all, Mr Foy said the new site had brought the local community together.
A crowdfunder to raise money has been launched for a potential legal fight, and to help nearby neighbours buy extra locks and CCTV cameras.
Mr Foy said: ‘All of a sudden, everybody knows everybody’s name. It’s weird – there’s a whole community cohesion.
‘It’s done what we’re trying to do – which is keep everyone together and stop people feeling isolated.’
Woodland in Burpham, Guildford was also chopped down over the Easter weekend – as travellers in high-vis jackets were seen installing a gate and fences.
A business owner in the town, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed residents were mostly worried about the impact on wildlife as the trees continued to disappear.
‘So far they have just been making it into a stable area, getting rid of the trees and walling it off,’ he said.
‘We have no details, nobody really knows what is happening. It is all a bit sudden, we are still trying to piece it together.
‘The tree clearing is what has upset most people. It is pretty bare there now. In Guildford wildlife is the first concern.’
The local claimed the traveller group bought the land, which is by an industrial estate, a few months ago, but did not have permission to build on it.
He said residents were still holding out hope that Guildford Borough Council would step in – as they had with previous attempts to settle nearby.
The business owner added: ‘I think everyone is just waiting to see if it will be permanent or not. Right now it is just the construction workers there. We are about five metres away from it.
‘I have spoken to a few of the construction guys but even they don’t know what is happening or how permanent it will be. At face value they are saying it is all legit.
‘Obviously nobody is hoping for this. We have got some of the neighbours already all over the council on it so they will be aware by now.’
