Court orders removal of static home ‘dumped’ on Westgate clifftop in May 2022

The dumped static home Photo Dave Tappy

A court has ordered the removal of a static caravan which was installed illegally on the cliff top at Westgate at the end of last May.

On February 23 Deputy District Judge Plant, at Canterbury County Court, ruled the mobile home must be removed and the defendant was ordered to pay Thanet District Council’s costs of £4,333.26.

The mobile home unit placed on land, known as ‘The Gardens’, next to Westgate Pavilion and defendant Sheena Daniels, of Westgate, claimed to have purchased the land and that she would provide proof of ownership. The land is owned by Thanet council.

In September 2022 Thanet District Council applied for an Injunction to remove the mobile home  and the case was heard at Canterbury County Court last week.

Photo TDC

The court initially ordered that both parties prepare for trial which would have taken place in October or November this year. The council then made a successful application for default and summary judgement – a fast track process that obtains a judgement without a trial) for the injunction.

The defendant’s claim  they had legally purchased the land was dismissed by the court and the judge ruled in favour of the council.

The court ordered Ms Daniels to pay the council’s costs of £4,333.26 and to have the caravan removed within 56 days of the hearing – by Thursday 20 April. The council will be permitted to reapply for its removal if it is still there after this date.

Cllr Ash Ashbee, Leader of Thanet District Council said: “I’m very pleased with the outcome of this case. While taking people to court is a last resort, as a council we will prosecute if people are breaking the law. The mobile home was a blot on the landscape and we were confident that the defendant had no right to put it there.

“The fact that the judge decided to award us over £4,000 in costs means that the council and local residents will not be out of pocket. This is a good result. We’ll be keeping a close eye on whether the mobile home is indeed moved within the court mandated time frame, and we won’t hesitate to pursue a follow up case if not.”

11 Comments

  1. Sounds like Sheena was approached by a bloke in a local pub who offered to sell her Westgate’s equivalent of the Eifel Tower!!!

  2. TDC the laughing stock again. Its not art, it can’t be turned into an art profit so dilly dally around with tax payers money before finally removing an abandoned eyesore.

  3. Well if this action is “fast tracked” god knows what normal tracked is?? Some years ago I went out leaving my electronic gates open to my private driveway, on my return a neighbour had parked her son’s car on my parking area “ hi Ann hope you don’t mind Parked Toms car on your whilst we are away for the summer break for safety”note in my letterbox. Well I did mind within 3 hours I had a recovery truck attend remove the car and park it across their driveway. Then I put the bill for £150 in their letterbox. They paid up and never asked or spoke to me again, fine by me.

  4. Should have just put a sign on it saying children’s playground and the local feral kids would have torched it within the hour.

  5. That large static caravan cant be moved until its had an internal/external survey for protected species ie hibernating bat’s and other protected species.

  6. I don’t know what condition it’s in, but could it not have been used to house homeless people? Better than a park bench at least.

    • It’s in a terrible state, and a dangerous attraction for young children to investigate.

  7. Check Sheena Daniels on Companies House website. Appointed and resigned from 4 different firms the same time. Gives the impression that she has been a slippery person all her life judging by the first company in list, or at least whoever is using that name.

  8. This is an excellent outcome, because if no action was taken it would encourage more static homes being dumped there!

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