Martin Clunes loses planning battle with new travellers near Dorset home

Earlier this month, Martin Clunes was appearing on a red carpet in London alongside his fellow stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi for the UK premiere of Wuthering Heights.On Thursday, the actor was to be found in the rather less glamorous surroundings of a county hall in the English West Country to hear councillors rule against him in a long-running dispute with a family of new travellers.Members of Dorset council voted to allow Theo Langton and Ruth McGill to stay permanently on a plot of land down the lane from the home of Clunes, who meanwhile has won plaudits for his portrayal of the cruel Mr Earnshaw in Emerald Fennel’s hit reimagining of Emily Brontë’s novel.Langton and McGill have lived in the idyllic spot on the edge of the town of Beaminster for more than 20 years. The site includes a caravan, workshop and a mobile van they use for travelling to festivals and shows selling their art, jewellery and metalwork.They define themselves as “new travellers” and asked Dorset council for permanent planning permission to live at the site, which they own.Clunes and his wife, the TV producer Philippa Braithwaite, have long argued that the couple are not entitled to live there and are not Travellers in law.Over the years there have also been accusations that the Langton and McGill home has a detrimental impact on the stretch of countryside and concerns that the lack of mains water may pose a health risk.Clunes and Braithwaite attended the county hall in Dorchester on Thursday to hear council officers and members of the western and southern area committee decide on the application.The planning officer Bob Burden said the council was satisfied that Langton and McGill were Travellers journeying around the country selling pieces they made on site. He also made the point that the council could not find enough spaces for Gypsies and Travellers on sites it owned and ran.Burden said the impact on the landscape was negligible as the spot was largely hidden by trees and the nearest properties were sufficiently far away.A sign on a public road near Clunes’ farm.Clunes did not speak but his barrister, John Steel KC, argued that the pair were not “statutory” Travellers and had refused to take up offers of other pitches. He argued that allowing them to stay would set a precedent.“Others will follow,” he said. “Others are waiting. The strong message will be that those with similar lifestyles can get around the planning process in Dorset.”Two other neighbours spoke up to object. One said granting the couple permission would open the gates to “many others”. Another said fresh encampments were already starting up, including someone running a foraging business in the woods.But the support for the couple was louder. Over the years, Langton has done volunteer work in the community and they have both run art workshops. The Rev Jonathan Herbert, a chaplain to Gypsies and Travellers in the Salisbury diocese, said the couple’s off-grid, low-carbon lifestyle should be an example to all.The couple’s agent, Simon Rushton, said that at the heart of the case was the right of people to lead different sorts of lives. “There is room in our communities for difference,” he said.A lengthy report on the saga touched on subjects ranging from the list of West Country festivals the couple attended (including Glastonbury and Boomtown) to toilet arrangements on the site (they include the use of charcoal and sawdust).The vote in favour of Langton and McGill was carried by seven to two. After the meeting, Abbie Kirkby, the head of public affairs and policy at Friends, Families and Travellers, which works to end discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people, said there was a scarcity of sites.Kirkby said: “Across the country, Gypsy and Traveller families face an impossible choice – a dwindling number of available stopping places, or long, costly and adversarial planning battles that can last for years. This uncertainty takes a heavy toll on families who are simply trying to live safely and peacefully on land they own.”