A member of a traveller family with a history of carrying out unauthorised building work has purchased land in an Essex hamlet already struggling with an illegal encampment. Residents of picturesque Willows Green near Felsted watched in horror as travellers concreted over a field over the May bank holiday weekend. The local authority took no action to prevent the unlawful development, despite a Daily Mail article warning it was imminent.
This incident is part of a broader trend where travellers build unauthorised developments over long weekends when council enforcement teams are unavailable. They later apply for retrospective planning permission to make the sites permanent. Fears of a second potential site on another field just 300 yards away from the first were raised during a tense packed meeting of the parish council last week.
Land Registry records show that Edward Myles Anthony Connors paid £150,000 for the undeveloped patch of land on June 17, 2025. The address he used to register the land was a pitch at the Kents Field traveller site in Banstead, Surrey, which was developed without planning permission from 1995 by the wider Connors family. After a series of legal appeals, including to the Supreme Court in 1999, the site was granted planning permission for three mobile homes and touring caravans. This Banstead development may serve as a blueprint for Mr Connors or his associates if they decide to develop his land in Willows Green over the Spring bank holiday later this month.
Lawyers acting for travellers often argue they have no choice but to exploit planning laws because 90 percent of traveller site planning applications are refused. By contrast, about 40 percent or more of those made retrospectively are approved. Many legal arguments also cite Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to respect for private and family life. The Conservatives have vowed to stop retrospective planning permission being granted to any traveller site built without authorisation.
The first plot at Willows Green was illegally developed in a 'military-style' operation that began on May Day. Within hours of the council closing, an army of workers and around 30 vehicles arrived on the land. Using lights and generators, diggers began turning over grass ready for hardcore and asphalt. Work continued the following morning as shocked residents awoke to the nightmare. There was no district council response until Tuesday. The Mail later revealed that a traveller called Martin Mongan brazenly revealed plans for the site a week before construction began. Mr Mongan advertised for 'off-plan' buyers for one of the yet-to-be-built caravan pitches in a Facebook post highlighting the site's proximity to Stansted Airport and the Essex town of Braintree. The married father-of-two shared architect's drawings of the site, which at that point was still a green field, before it was built in the same way.
Uttlesford District Council has now taken out an injunction against the travellers, which they are appealing. The council was heavily criticised for not even sending an official to speak to more than 70 concerned locals at a parish council meeting. One resident said they had shown 'complete and utter contempt for locals.' The council had claimed it was unable to do anything to prevent the development, but councils including Basildon in Essex have previously successfully invoked legislation to stop such plans. At the parish council meeting on Wednesday, former Met Police commander Roy Ramm was voted in as its new chairman. The no-nonsense former detective was a key figure in the investigation to trace the missing gold stolen during the notorious 1983 Brink's-Mat gold bullion robbery. He is now set to demand face-to-face meetings with senior district council officials and police over the situation.
The Parish Council said in a statement: 'Following the election of the new chair, the council had a very open and frank discussion where the councillors listened to residents and discussed concerns and various actions. The Council has established a valuable communications network with affected residents and the council has given undertakings to them to make every effort to bring the senior district council officials and Essex Police to an urgent face-to-face meeting.'
Willows Green resident Tracy Williams, 42, previously said some neighbours had been 'threatened' by the travellers and were now scared to leave their homes. She said: 'You see this happen in other locations and you think: "I'd hate for that to happen here" - and lo and behold, out of nowhere, it's happening. I've seen some of my neighbours in tears. Some have had altercations already with some of the travelling community. They've been threatened and are scared to come out of their homes. This is not acceptable.'
The land where the first site was built is registered as being owned by UK Real Estate and Land 2 Limited. The firm paid £125,000 cash to the previous owner for the land on April 29, 2025, with an overage deed arrangement to pay him more if its value increases. Companies House records list one of its directors as Chad Brady, a 31-year-old Yorkshireman. A spokesman for Uttlesford District Council has not yet commented on any plans to stop a second encampment but said it 'understood the concern' the traveller site at Willows Green had caused. They said: 'The council has served a temporary injunction on the site. This restricts further development and any residential occupation of the land while the council progresses with ongoing planning enforcement investigations. A hearing is scheduled to take place in the High Court next week where the injunction will be reviewed. As legal proceedings are ongoing, we will not be issuing further comment at this time.'
An Essex Police spokesman said: 'We're aware of the current situation in Willows Green and have reached out to partners, including Uttlesford District Council and Felsted Parish Council. We've also spoken personally with nearby residents and understand their frustrations. As this is currently a planning matter, it does sit with the local planning authority.'
