EXCLUSIVE Martin Clunes says it would be a ‘terrible shame’ if view from his hilltop Dorset manor house is ‘spoilt’ by traveller site – after his new-age hippie neighbours won latest stage of planning war against actor
- Clunes and his wife Philippa are hoping the plan will be kicked out by councillors
Doc Martin star Martin Clunes has said it would be a ‘terrible shame’ if the view from his hilltop manor house was ‘spoilt’ by a traveller site – after plans were provisionally approved to build a traveller site just 300 yards away.
The veteran actor’s neighbours, new age eco hippies Theo Langdon and Ruth McGill, submitted a planning application for a permanent traveller site next to their home in Meerhay, Dorset – despite objections Mr Clunes and other neighbours.
Their application has now been approved by planning officials at Dorset Council, despite objections by locals and Beaminster town councillors who said the site was ‘unsuitable’ for a travellers’ encampment.
The application is now due to be voted on by Dorset councillors.
Mr Clunes, 61, and his wife Philippa, 58, are among locals hoping the proposal will be kicked out by the local authority at its next meeting.
Actor Martin Clunes pictured with two horses on his 130-acre farm near Beaminster in Dorset
The astonishing view from the hilltop near Mr Clunes’ home that he doesn’t want ‘spoilt’. It is believed the site will be visible among the trees at the bottom of the image
The Clunes’ first bought a Grade II listed former vicarage in the village of Powerstock, near Bridport, in 2001 before moving into their current home in 2007
The actor speaking outside his luxury mansion this afternoon said: ‘We are very lucky to have this beautiful view. It would be a terrible shame if it was spoilt. We love living here.’
READ MORE: Hippie in planning row could inherit a fortune after his mother ‘sold the actor his 130-acre Dorset farm for £3m’
As he spoke, he gestured to the floor-to-ceiling picture glass window – measuring two metres by four metres – behind him which overlooks the proposed site and enjoys sweeping views across unspoilt countryside.
Asked to comment specifically on the proposed development, he smiled and said; ‘I am not going to comment on this, thank you.
‘But you are welcome to speak to my neighbour, Mr Langdon, to seek his comments.
‘My understanding is that the proposals are now going to be heard by council committee members.’
Journalists visiting Mr Langdon at his property below Mr Clunes’ house but were greeted by a message written in black marker pen on cardboard, which read: ‘Not reporters, thank you’.
Ms McGill confirmed the couple had ‘no comment’ to make.
Other locals were more forthcoming. One, who asked not to be named, said: ‘This is a wonderful place to live, and it would be wholly inappropriate for a traveller site.
‘There are no facilities, such as sanitation. We don’t want them.’
New-age hippie neighbours Theo Langton (pictured) and Ruth McGill are looking to build a permanent home on their land after spending 25 years living there in a mobile home
In 2015 the local council granted the travelling couple a five year temporary licence to live on the site, but this expired in 2020 (pictured, Ruth McGill)
Mr Clunes and his wife Philippa lodged an objection to the plans (pictured) along with several neighbours
Another, who also asked not to be identified, said: ‘This is an absolutely ridiculous application and I hope the counsellors throw it out as soon as possible because it is causing everyone here a lot of concern.
‘As I’m sure you have discovered from talking to other people in the area, no one, apart from the applicants, is desperately keen for a travellers site here.’
Mr Clunes and his wife Philippa lodged an objection to the plans along with several neighbours, claiming the proposals would ruin the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Their planning agent, Will Cobley, said: ‘Our clients have lived at their property for many years and are concerned by the proposal, which seeks to authorise and intensify a nearby traveller use on a permanent basis.’
Mr Cobley said the Clunes’ believe that protected countryside is a ‘wholly unsuitable’ location for a traveller site and pointed out the lack of access to basic services like electricity, water and sewage.
Artists Mr Langdon and Ms McGill appear to be living in what locals described as a mobile home on land adjoining their house in Meerhay.
Mr Langton, who was once a town councillor, has lived on the site of at Wintergreen Barn, Meerhay, just outside Beaminster, since 1997 (the couple is pictured with their two young children in 2007)
It emerged earlier this week that Land Registry documents show that Theo’s mother Georgia Langton, a celebrated garden designer, sold the mansion to the Clunes for around £3million, and later sold the remainder of the land to her son for £128,315 in June 2019.
Mrs Langton’s Past garden projects include Farleigh House in Hampshire for the Earl and Countess of Portsmouth where she designed what is described in the Good Gardens Guide as ‘an exemplary modern garden in the classic tradition’.
In 2015 the local council granted the travelling couple a five year temporary licence to live on their current site, but this expired in 2020.
However, the couple subsequently applied to legalise the settlement and turn it into a permanent private residential traveller site, and have now had the proposal recommended for approval.
This will make their 45ft by 16ft mobile home on slabs legal along with a caravan that is already on site. It would also allow them to add two more caravans for visitors to stay in.
The Clunes’ have lived in Dorset for over 20 years. They first bought a Grade II listed former vicarage in the village of Powerstock, near Bridport, in 2001 before moving into their current home in 2007 (Clunes pictured as Doc Martin)
In January 2007 (pictured at the time) the council refused his temporary planning permission bid which requested to station a mobile home in the spot for three years, the Dorset Echo reported
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