Cabin without planning permission must be removed from South Downs National Park
August 21, 2025
Enforcement action was taken after a large wooden log cabin was built without planning permission in the National Park.
The cabin, with fully-insulated walls, roof and floor, was built on a beautiful viewpoint on land west of Lovedean Lane.
East Hampshire District Council’s Planning Enforcement Team, working on behalf of the South Downs National Park Authority, investigated over a series of months, including instigating legal proceedings.
Between September 2024 and February 2025 officers served a Planning Contravention Notice, two Enforcement Notices and a Stop Notice to Andrew and Deborah Melbourne, of Waterlooville, who own the land.
In May, ahead of a scheduled High Court hearing in June, the Melbournes signed a legally binding contract agreeing to remove the building, take away the log cabin and all its resulting materials, gates, fences and other forms of development, including the groundworks and paths and return the landscape to its original condition.
Cllr Angela Glass, EHDC’s Portfolio Holder for Planning and Enforcement, said: “We are delighted this legal agreement has been signed and we now expect the development to be cleared over the next couple of months. This is the culmination of many months of complex legal and enforcement work by our determined team of officers to reach this position. “
Tim Slaney, Director of Planning, added: “I’m delighted we’ve reached a resolution to this breach of planning that was harming this wonderful nationally-designated landscape.
“I would like to thank East Hampshire District Council which pursued this enforcement case with determination, making it clear we will not tolerate blatant breaches of planning.”