BUSHYWOOD HORSE SANCTUARY APPEAL

 

  BASED ON A TRUE STORY OF GRIT AND DETERMINATION - AGAINST ALL ODDS

Find your way through this real life drama using our MORAL COMPASS to help steer you through the facts of this true story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAVED: THE APPEAL SITE - This is how the stables looks today, thanks to the sterling efforts of the Colonial Bulldog. The sire is not many hundreds of yards from Knockhatch Adventure Park.

 

 

 

 

In this true story, based on real events, the "Colonial Bulldog," was engaged by Michael and Valerie Punter in the matter of an appeal against refusal to grant planning permission the Wealden District Council (WDC) the matter to be heard by way of a Public Inquiry on 4th December 1997. The appeal was allowed by virtue of a Decision Letter dated ?????.

 

Our old friend, Ian Kay (assistant district planning officer), was involved of course. We might assume, and it is alleged that he would have masterminded the demolition of the stables comprising a horse sanctuary, wrongly advising the Area Plans South (APS) planning committee, that it would be lawful to demolish the buildings before an appeal was heard.

 

This council waited to serve notice on Christmas Eve, when they knew the owners of the stables would be on holiday. The ruse almost worked. If it had not been the stoic actions of a Wealden Action Group member, who drove all the way down to Bristol, to personally hand in a completed appeal for, with just minutes to spare. Or, an appeal would not have been valid. The Punters' would have been out of time, and were so shell-shocked by the demolition of their stables, presumably they could not think straight.

 

Ian Kay was also a witness on oath in the case of Stream Farm, Horam, where it is alleged the planning inspectorate had suggested that his evidence was far from satisfactory, and he should be replaced. Why then, Mr Kay was still working for WDC at the time of the Bushywood appeal, or later, pm Mr Warren's appeal, remains a mystery. Ian Kay remains at large. He has not yet been prosecuted for abusing his position of trust at this council, or for conspiring to cause loss, by virtue of his/their malicious campaigns, that cumulatively constitute misfeasance in public office. They are of course, serial offenders, their payment for such actions constituting proceeds of crime.

 

Readers are reminded that it is the duty of local councillors and members of parliament to keep control of wayward officers within their district. In addition, the police have a duty to prosecute offenders. But, in this case, Sussex police were in on the deceptions and abuses of positions of trust. In 1997 a number of Petitioners reported such crimes to Wealden, when a special panel was convened to take hear the complaints of 11 independent complainants.

 

Wealden's Lord Richard Newton, found that the complaints were criminal in nature, referring them to Sussex police, Deer Paddock in Hailsham, where Detective Sergeant Keith Lyndsay failed to investigate. He did not contact a single complainant to take Statements or gather evidence. He did though provide a sheet of official blank police headed paper to Wealden's officers, for them to write what they wanted Sussex police to say.

 

Clearly, to prevent such a conflict of interests, the matter should have been referred to an outside force for investigation. As per R v Sussex Justices, ex parte McCarthy 1924. The matter remains to be investigated. It bears all the hallmarks of the Post Office scandal, that broke in 2023.

 

Michael and Valerie Punter's local member was councillor Nick Ellwood, a local waste hauler, providing a skip service. Victor had been recommended by a member of the Wealden Action Group. They met at a meeting in Old Heathfield, when it was explained that no barrister would take the case, beliving any appeal could not be successful. Not only that, most planning firms in the region would not wish to upset their brother in arms, or their client's application would suddenly meet with all kinds of obstacles.

 

Prior to this appeal, Michael and Valerie Punter were publicans. They had employed solicitors ????? and racked up a considerable cost bill that was outstanding.

 

 

 

        

 

 

Sisu is set in 1944, towards the end of the second world war. It opens with a granite-faced miner striking gold in the middle of nowhere. But setting off on horseback heading to the city, satchel full of gold, he meets a convoy of Nazis rolling out of Finland. You might think there’s zero mileage left in the movies for psychopathic Nazis, but Helander finds a newish and sort-of-interesting angle here with his portrayal of Germans at the fag end of the conflict: war-addled and woozy, dressed in torn uniform with dead eyes and grimy faces. The game is up, and they are nihilistic.

 

 

The grizzled human rights activist, Victor von Woolf, fights on, despite incredible odds, in similar manner to Aatami Korpi, in SISU

 

 

 

 

Regardless of his own problems, Victor took on the case, where Ian Kay and Wealden's chief enforcement officer at that time, David Phillips, were on some kind of a crusade against caravans and mobile homes. And it appeared this was the tail end of a battler against a local builder; Gordon Worcester, who had obtained permission for retention of the stables, as a personal permission. Such that it did not run with the land.

 

 

THE BREWING STORM

 

On reflection, and having won the Bushywood appeal, a high profile case that received much media attention, Victor is of the view, that going on to win the Twissells Mill appeal, made Wealden District Council even more determined to get him.

 

TV SERIES

 

This is just one (proposed) episode in a series based on factual, real life stories for television dramatizations. All based on documented case histories.

 

 

 

 

 

THE BULLDOG - Human Rights activists come in all shapes and sizes. The Bulldog began to turn the tables on corrupt planning officials, as he took them on and won appeals for those unable to afford expensive lawyers. Actions speak louder than words. The Colonial became a high profile advocate. The Advocate became a target that must be suffocated, no matter how. The stakes were high.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Please use our MORAL COMPASS to navigate this story, or revisit our LANDING PAGE 

 

 

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The names of the main character and some of the supporting characters have been changed to protect their identity. Other characters in this work of fiction, retain their original names, where historical facts are quoted essentially and accurately, with reference to key documents tendered as supporting evidence.

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