Martin Clunes is set to lose his long-running planning feud with his hippie neighbours who want to build a permanent travellers’ site near his country home.
The Doc Martin star, 63, has tried to stop New Age Travellers, Theo Langton and Ruth McGill, from turning a woodland into an official traveller site for two years.
The land is around 300 yards from the the TV actor’s farmhouse where he lives with his wife Philippa Braithwaite
Mr Clunes previously accused his neighbours of being dishonest in their application to Dorset Council for permanent status, disputing whether they were bona fide travellers and therefore have a right to a base there.
However the Men Behaving Badly actor has been dealt another blow amid the bitter feud to stop the site near his £5 million property as local planning officials have recommended the temporary encampment be made official.
The decision would mean the couple will have the right to a permanent base there for themselves and visiting relatives.
As well as keeping their 45ft static caravan they plan to erect a barn to use as a day-room, workshop and store and add a mobile home and space for a camper van.
Councillors are set to vote on the matter this week, as planning experts within the council recommend they approve the proposals.
Actor Martin Clunes pictured at his farm near Beaminster in Dorset with two horses
New Age Travellers Theo Langton and Ruth McGill are attempting to turn a woodland plot – where they have a caravan – into an official travellers’ site
Mr Langton and Ms McGill have raised two children on their site in the woods. Planning officials have recommended the council approve their proposals
In his report, planning officer Bob Burden said the lack of permanent traveller sites in Dorset outweighed the ‘very limited harm’ this one would cause the protected landscape.
He also cited the Government’s ‘overarching aim to ensure fair and equal treatment for travellers’ for backing the scheme.
Mr Clunes has tirelessly fought to stop the self-proclaimed ‘new age travellers’ every step of the way.
He argued that the rural location – a protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – is a ‘wholly inappropriate’ place for a travellers’ site.
Government policy defines a travellers’ site as having space for mobile homes, caravans and utility buildings.
The definition for a mobile home is that it is a structure that can be divided into two parts and picked up and moved on the back of a 40ft trailer.
The actor has accused his neighbours of ‘cynically distorting’ these guidelines by saying their home was capable of being moved – making it more likely for their application to get the green light.
Mr Clunes’ barrister also previously disputed the couple’s gypsy and traveller status, claiming they failed to prove they travel for livelihood.
Plans for the Wintergreen Barn site at Meerhay. Mr Langton and Miss McGill have lived on a woodland plot they own for 21 years without running water or electricity
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 Clunes’ bought 130 acre Meerhay Farm near Beaminster, Dorset, from Mr Langton’s mother, the landscape gardener Georgia Langton, in 2007.
Mr Langton bought his next door plot from his mother and has lived in a 45ft by 16ft static caravan for 21 years on a rolling temporary licence granted by the council.
But in a bid to apply for permission to live there permanently, the couple applied to have the plot recognised as a traveller’s site, sparking the row with the Dr Martin star.
Mr Langton and Ms McGill have relied on expert evidence from structural engineers and a gypsy liaison officer to support their case.
The couple have said that they sell handmade crafts at fairs and festivals, including Glastonbury, throughout the summer months.
Dr Simon Rushton, a chartered town planner who has worked on gypsy and traveller planning matters for 15 years, has stated: ‘Their travelling linked to their livelihood is sufficiently well-established to demonstrate that they have acquired a nomadic habit of life.’
Under planning law, gypsies or travellers must leave their main base to travel to earn a living.
The actor has claimed that the couple’s home ‘lacks any ability to be mobile’ and to describe it as a mobile home was ‘cynical and dishonest’.
Mr Clunes is set to lose the two-year bitter planning feud as planning officials have recommended councillors approve the duo’s proposals
A Google street view of buildings on the plot owned by Mr Langton and Mrs McGill
But a survey carried out on the mobile home by Penpole Engineering showed that it could be lifted in one piece and that it has ‘no permanent connections to the ground.’
Mr Clunes, who is famed for playing grumpy GP Doc Martin, has faced overwhelming opposition in his bid to stop the plans.
Villagers have made barbed comments towards the actor who they have accused of drawing out the process over two years, pointing out Mr Langton and Mrs Gill have lived there far longer.
Katkin Tremanye said: ‘The planning process has been excessively long for this family, much, much longer than it should have been.
‘It has been drawn out in every way possible by one single protagonist when there was, and continues to be, overwhelming community support for this couple.’
Local Emma Gale added: ‘I can’t imagine how it must feel for them to have their home so precariously balanced due to the opinion of a neighbour.’
Betty Billington said: ‘The main objector [Mr Clunes] bought his property knowing that this family already occupied the land for residential use.’
Neighbour Paul Brader said the pair shouldn’t have ‘to go through the stress and worry of having to re-apply every few years’.
‘It is nonsensical when they have been there for so long and without causing any problems to anyone else,’ he continued.
But Mr Clunes isn’t alone in his objection to the plans with one local saying they would be ‘very concerned’ if the application was given the go-ahead.
Martin Clunes as Doc Martin and co-star Caroline Catz as Louisa Glasson in the ITV drama
Mr Clunes and his TV producer wife Philippa Braithewaite (pictured in May 2023)
Dinah Clarke, who lives at nearby Meerhay Manor, said: ‘Many people in Dorset would love to develop their own land to accommodate their own families but come up against strict planning permission especially in AONBs.
‘Mr Langton has questionable New Age Traveller status and should therefore be subject to the same planning rules as anyone else seeking to develop their own land.’
Retired chartered surveyor James Green said: ‘I am very concerned if this application is granted it will stimulate many further applications.
‘There are many young people in West Dorset, keeping an eye on this application, who cannot afford to buy a property to live in, or even rent one.
‘Obtaining a piece of land, and setting up as a NAT will be easy to achieve given the only test is to travel in search of seasonal employment or summer shows and festivals.’
Villager Richard Fodder added: ‘This proposal is generally inappropriate for an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has specific challenges including access to the site and the lack of basic services required for permanent residence and the protection of the environment.’
Dorset Council’s planning committee will meet on Thursday to decide the matter.
