A piece of land known as Rabbits Island must be reopened to the public and no longer used for off road motorbike racing, a council has ordered.
Callan and Samantha Wood’s company C W Bikes bought the field behind Brooks Lane in Bognor for £500,000 in 2021. Soon after, residents who used to walk their dogs on it were denied access.
Since then, it has been used to store caravans and mobile homes, an off-road dirt track has been created and horses have been grazed there.
In October, Katrina Sullivan and Jamie Middleton were convicted of neglect over the death of a foal and a pony found in a state of extreme neglect on the field by the RSPCA, both of which subsequently died.
Residents have been fighting for months to regain access to the land, through which three public footpaths runs – but say it has been fenced off.
Now, Arun District Council have issued an enforcement notice, which comes into effect today and gives the Woods a month to remove anything obstructing the path.
The notice says the field must not be used to store caravans, mobile homes, vehicles, or machinery and equipment which is not being used for agriculture.
A piece of hardstanding, sheds and electrical power points must be removed, along with shipping containers and any debris.
The notice also says: “Remove all formed earth bunds and buried tyres along with any resulting debris and detritus arising from this removal, returning the land to its previous condition.
“Remove any other operational development that is currently obstructing the public from accessing the legal definitive rights of way and make the routes fully available for public access.”
A spokeswoman for Arun District Council said: “The rife is a key local open space and Biodiversity Opportunity Area so we would like to thank the local community for bringing this matter to our attention and for their continued concern and assistance.”
West Sussex County Council has also been involved in upholding the community’s right to use the public footpaths.
County councillor Jaine Wild said: “Local people have fought long and hard to stop this. All they wanted was their rights to dog walk in an area where they had walked for numerous years, this became blocked off by him and local people fought back.”
Last year, Mr Wood applied for planning permission to put up an agricultural barn on the field. More then a dozen people objected, with most saying the field was not being used for farming.
They said about half the site was used to graze horses, and the other half for storage.
Terry Hutchings and Lois Kent, who live next to the site, objected saying: “He is not a farmer but motor bike trader and we believe he rents out storage space, e.g. storage containers, caravan and motorhome storage.
“We have already witnessed tyres, rubble, earth and trees being dumped on site by very large lorries.”
The Aldingbourne Footpaths and Country Park Action Group also objected, saying: “The field has been decimated in terms of wildlife potential as a registered biodiversity opportunity area by its present use which has interrupted decades of meadow regime.
“The proposal is for an agricultural building but, as stated, it is in an isolated field, not clearly associated with any agricultural holding.”
Another neighbour, Anne Evers, said: “There’s heavy traffic, i.e. lorries, car transporters, none of it is agricultural.
“All horses have been removed by the owners as the ground was unsuitable. The horses were up to their knees in mud and had to be evacuated on more than one occasion, which involved the RSPCA several times.
“On one occasion I walked down to see what was happening where I was threatened verbally that if I continued to take pictures, they knew where I lived and would sort me out.
“After this altercation, flimsy green netting was put up to stop people seeing what was going on in the field.
“He fenced off the area to replace with old caravans and sheds dotted around the area, along with strange lighting at night time.
“The owner said he was shutting off the bridge and access as it was not safe for the public. Now he’s having big tipper trucks and diggers drive over it weekly.
“My family has owned this property since 1976 and there was always right of way across the field for all.”
The application was turned down.
