Natural England | A caravan park owner has been ordered to pay £116,263 after being convicted of disturbing a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which serves as an internationally important breeding ground for wading birds and waterfowl.
John Holland, 59, of Tapmoor Road, Moorlinch, appeared before Taunton Crown Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to two offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 at earlier hearings.
The prosecution was brought by Natural England following a four-year investigation into Holland’s activities, which evidenced he had turned the 1.2-hectare grassland site at Long Load within the Wet Moor SSSI into a permanent commercial caravan park. He crammed over 90 caravans and 40 vehicles into two fields and laid 300 metres of tarmac roads, as well as dumping household and commercial waste on the site.
Holland and his family had unsuccessfully applied five times between 2011 and 2018 for planning consent to develop the site into a permanent caravan park, and these refusals were subsequently upheld by the Planning Inspectorate.
The court heard how the SSSI, which also falls within a Special Protection Area and Ramsar site, was designated in 1985 and forms part of the extensive marsh grasslands and ditch systems which make up the Somerset Levels and Moors, a highly protected landscape renowned for supporting unique biodiversity.
The site provides nationally important breeding habitat for threatened populations of wading birds such as curlew and black-tailed godwit and supports internationally important populations of red-listed bird species including the endangered Bewick’s swan, lapwing, and pochard, as well as being home to over 3% of the global population of Eurasian teal.
Natural England concluded the works carried out by Holland had resulted in habitat loss, displacement and long-term disturbance to these bird species, and charged Holland with two offences in March 2023.
After pleading guilty, Holland, who was also convicted in September 2023 of physically threatening and abusing Natural England officers who visited the site to investigate the initial allegations in 2021, claimed to be bankrupt.
Natural England commenced proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and instructed financial investigators, who found Holland had accrued over £1 million in unexplained cash and assets, which were successfully evidenced to have arisen from his unlawful operation of the caravan park.
The court held Holland’s offending demonstrated a criminal lifestyle and certified he had accrued £1 million of illicit financial gain from his actions. He was ordered to pay Natural England £116,263 within three months. The court noted that the amount it could order Holland to pay was limited in the context of the total illicit benefit accrued owing to his active bankruptcy proceedings.
The court also granted Natural England an order requiring Holland to restore the site to its former condition as semi-natural grassland by 23 January 2026, removing all caravans and associated infrastructure and creating and maintaining habitat for breeding and wintering birds. If he fails to comply, he faces a further unlimited fine plus an additional £100 fine for each day the order is not complied with.
