The council has this morning (Monday) seized and secured land at Fowlers Stone Wood, Vigo, following a long-running enforcement case.
This week contractors will begin clearing structures, contaminated waste and other illegal development from the land.
Since April 2020, the council has been pursuing enforcement and legal action against the illegal development on the land, supported by local members and residents.
This culminated in the jailing of Gareth Sullivan in October 2021 by the High Court after he accepted he was in breach of an injunction secured by the council preventing development at Fowlers Stone Wood.
Sullivan has since left the site, and today work has begun to secure and clear it in accordance with the current enforcement notices covering the land.
Council issues notices, require the removal of all vehicles, mobile homes, caravans, plant, machinery and waste.
It is expected to take a number of weeks for works to be completed and entrances to Fowlers Stone Wood will be secured once contractors have left the site.
Cllr John Burden, Leader, said: “I know this case has been frustrating for local people.
“It has served to illustrate the very real legal constraints local councils face when it comes to tackling the illegal occupation and development of land like this.”
He added that while it may have appeared that at times no action was being taken, the council had been following complex legal proceedings.
He said: “We had to ensure every step of those proceedings was completed carefully and lawfully or risk being successfully challenged, setting the whole process back many months.
“The level of evidence required for our successful applications to the High Court, firstly for an injunction and then to have Sullivan held in contempt for breaching that injunction, was exceptional, and I can only praise our enforcement and legal teams for their diligence in that work.
“I would also like to thank local residents and local councillors in the area for their patience and persistence in supporting us to get this matter resolved.
“Despite taking action that saw the offender jailed, it has still proved time consuming and challenging to get to where we are today, to gain access to the site and to begin the work to clear it.
“Sullivan’s actions and our efforts to bring him to account for them and rectify the damage he has done have resulted in a great deal of expense and we will be making full use of all the avenues open to us to recover those costs.”
Cllr Burden added that the council was grateful to Meopham Parish Council which is working on plans to restock trees in the woodland once clearance work had been completed.
He said: “Today we have reached a milestone that at times has seemed a long, long way off.
“There is still some way to go before we begin to see Fowlers Stone Wood restored to its former glory, but I hope local residents can now see that the end is in sight to this frustrating saga.”