High Court orders travellers' site to be vacated

People living at a travellers' site in Somerset must leave after a final injunction was granted by the High Court.

Somerset Council has been pursuing legal action against the residents of the Greenacres site, on Oxen Lane in North Curry, near Taunton, for more than two decades. Caravans were first moved onto the site in 2004.

After unauthorised work began there in October 2024, a temporary injunction was granted in July 2025 to stop anyone else moving in, and the council later refused planning permission for 16 pitches for caravans and static homes on the site.

Councillor Mike Rigby said it had been a "long-running and complex case."

After a High Court hearing in mid-July, the council was granted a permanent injunction for the site, and the remaining residents must leave before 18 December, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Under the injunction, all "unauthorised residential use" of the land must cease and all associated development must be removed – including caravans, day rooms and other infrastructure.

The court concluded that the council's enforcement action was "justified and proportionate".

Rigby said: "Throughout this process, we have been required to follow both planning law and the legal processes set by the courts.

"We could not bypass those procedures, regardless of the strength of local feeling.

"Since the site was reoccupied, we have pursued planning enforcement action, secured an interim injunction, defended the refusal of planning permission through the appeals process and sought a final ruling from the High Court.

"We welcome the court's judgement... this issue has taken up a considerable amount of the council's capacity with planning enforcement and we are grateful for the community's patience and the hard work of the officers involved with this complex case."

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