The $30 million toe in the water

Unscrupulous developers are using Facebook groups to arrange for the movement of thousands of tonnes of hardcore into areas of two councils, sparking fears of a fresh series of traveller 'land grabs' over the bank holiday weekend. at least two councils are on red alert amid fears of a fresh series of traveller 'land grabs' over the bank holiday weekend after plans emerged to move thousands of tonnes of hardcore into their areas.

Among the latest was a 12-pitch caravan site built over the May Day bank holiday weekend at Willows Green, a picturesque hamlet in Essex. on the morning of Friday May 1, the Daily Mail revealed that a field in the hamlet was at risk of unauthorised development after uncovering a post in a Facebook group asking for thousands of tonnes of hardcore - a type of crushed stone used to construct a solid base for developments .

Within hours of the local district council closing later that evening, an army of workers, vehicles and machinery pulled onto the land and began converting it into a traveller site.

Who is the unnamed buyer?

Karl Kavanagh, 48, who runs Hampshire-based KK Construction, posted to the group on Wednesday that he wanted about 100 loads of crushed aggregate for a location in the Horley area of Surrey over Saturday and Sunday. He followed up with a further post on Thursday saying tipper lorries were needed in the Horsham area from Saturday to Monday for the price of £200 a load.

A tractor operating today near a traveller site in the Kent commuter village of West Malling. residents fear the work is in preparation for an unauthorised expansion of the site.

An industry insider said: 'I don't know what these are for, but the timing over a bank holiday is unusual. no one would usually work after close of business on Friday.'

What auditors flagged in the May filing

The Mail alerted Horsham Council and Reigate and Banstead Council to the posts, with the latter launching an immediate investigation. Reigate and Banstead Council is aware of a 40-acre site that changed hands in February for £403,000, but the names of the new owners are not yet registered with the Land Registry.

A spokesman said: 'Thank you for alerting us and sharing your intelligence on the potential activity over the weekend, which has been passed to our planning enforcement team. We have various fields covered by existing court injunctions across the Horley and Salfords area.'

A familiar pattern from the 2019 crash

Unauthorised traveller sites regularly spring up across the country over bank holidays as unscrupulous developers take advantage of council enforcement teams being off work. The move comes after months of increased enforcement efforts by councils to tackle the issue .

Residents fear the work is in preparation for an unauthorised expansion of the site. An aerial view of the development,which won retrospective planning permission in 2025 despite being built illegally.