LAWYERS acting for the owner of the former Bradford on Avon Golf course have threatened a Wiltshire filmmaker with prosecution for trespass if he sets foot on the land.
Chris Alexander, of White Space Films in Bradford on Avon, has been commissioned to make a short 10-minute film by a community group trying to protect the land from being used for housing development.
But John Hussey, a director of Bradford on Avon Golf Course Ltd, instructed Wansbroughs solicitors in Devizes to write to Mr Alexander warning he could be prosecuted for trespass if he or any of his company’s employees set foot on the land.
The letter said: “The land is private land and there are no public rights of access onto it or over it. Access on to the land is strictly prohibited without our client’s express consent in writing.
“We hereby expressly put you on notice that access onto the land, for whatever reason, including to carry out any filming by yourself, your film company or your employees, is not permitted or authorised by our client.
“Any access on to the land to carry out any filming, or for any other purpose, will be deemed a trespass and our client’s rights are fully reserved in this regard.”
Mr Alexander said the threat of legal action would not prevent him from filming and that Mr Hussey was acting ‘selfishly’ in refusing to allow the land to be re-wilded.
He added: “It is not going to stop us. He can’t stop us filming above the land.
“We will just get some drone shots. He does not own the air space.
“We can still make a film. They are not going to stop us filming. We will stay strong.”
When the film is finished, the community group plans to screen it at St Margaret’s Hall in a bid to drum up support for its campaign to re-wild the land.
Mr Hussey, 77, of Brittle Springs Farm at Heywood near Westbury, is a 75 per cent shareholder in the golf course company, which he is understood to run with his brother and sister.
He used to operate a ‘pay and play’ nine-hole golf course on the land but closed it in 2019 after attacks by vandals damaged the club’s premises and green-keeping machinery.
A civil engineer, Mr Hussey and his wife, Janice, 76, run JH Hussey (Construction) Ltd at Westbury.
Asked about the golf course, Mrs Hussey said: “It is nothing to do with me. You will need to speak to my husband.”
In 2020, Mr Hussey was approached by a group of residents asking if he would allow the community to re-wild the land. He and his family are understood to want to sell the land for housing development.
The land is earmarked as a reserve list site for housing in the latest Wiltshire Local Plan but locals would prefer to see the derelict and overgrown site completely rewilded and turned into a nature reserve.
In October 2009, the former West Wiltshire District Council lifted a covenant protecting the land from development.
Housing applications in 2008, 2009 and 2013 came to nothing following campaigns by local people to stop development on the land, which used to be the site of the town’s tip.
More than 2,000 residents have already signed an online petition launched by Bradford on Avon Town Council calling for the site to be removed from the Local Plan reserve list.
A GoFundMe online appeal to raise funds for the film has already raised £720 towards its £5,000 target. To donate, click here.
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