'They can't force me to go': Homeless man who lives in a shed off the A414

[Tony Gosling]

'They can't force me to go': Homeless man who 
lives in a shed off the A414 is threatened with eviction

By 
<http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/people/Essex%20Chronicle/profile.html>Essex 
Chronicle  |  Posted: November 08, 2014

By Peter Walker
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    []
    []
    MY SHELTER: Tommy Hilden and the shed, off 
Three Mile Hill, that he has been calling home

    *
    []
    MY SHELTER: Tommy Hilden and the shed, off 
Three Mile Hill, that he has been calling home

DOWN Three Mile Hill, past Hylands Park and 
metres from a road sign for the A12, is a 
solitary St George's flag, fluttering silently in the wind.

For the unsuspecting motorist the small flag, 
embedded in a six-foot high embankment, barely batters an eyelid.

Yet behind the embankment, nestled out of view, 
is a bright blue shed which a homeless man has 
called home for the past five years.

With nowhere else to go, Tommy Hilden, 38, built 
the shed on the green belt spot off the A414, and 
kitted it out with a camp bed, cooking stove and gas heater.

That, however, is all about to change, after 
Chelmsford City Council threatened him with a 
21-day eviction notice and a £1,000 fine after 
Margaretting Parish Council complained.

"I'm prepared to go to court and fight it as much 
as I can," Mr Hilden told the Chronicle.

"I just can't understand it, I know it's not my 
own but I have treated it as my own.

"I'm not doing any harm, I'm not abusive to 
anyone, I've trimmed the bushes, I've put a wire 
mesh around it, I put a lock on the gate and it's 
so well covered you can hardly see it from the 
road. It's like a world of its own."

More than a decade ago Essex Highways Authority, 
on behalf of owners The Highways Agency, built 
the embankment and installed a metal gate to stop 
caravans driving on to what was a popular travellers' haven.

But ex-Sandon School student Mr Hilden, who says 
he knew the travellers, clambered over the 
barricade and says he first pitched up a tent on the land five years ago.

After the tent was slashed about three years ago 
he says he bought the shed from a relative for 
£200. The shed also had its windows smashed in the spring.

Inside the shed, which he fondly named "Lauras", 
he has a single bed, portable stove, pots and 
pans, a storage cupboard, his toothbrush, 
deodorant, a camping kettle and a radiator 
fuelled by gas cylinders sitting outside.

His silver Peugeot 106 can be seen parked by the 
roadside. He has even built his own postbox, 
registered at the Lauras, The Old Laybye, Plot 1, London Road, Margaretting.

It is this address at the top of a city council 
letter, dated October 15, which states planning 
officers are "considering" issuing an enforcement notice.

Mr Hilden will refuse to leave and apply for a 
Lawful Development Certificate, which sidesteps 
the planning permission process, and claim his 
five-year occupancy gives him squatters' rights 
to stay on the land, which is no bigger than a basketball court.

"I would miss it if I had to leave. I know it's 
not mine but it's my own little environment," said Mr Hilden.

"It's nice and quiet."

'One person's caravan is another person's shed'

Mr Hilden is one of 5,175 on Chelmsford City 
Council's housing register but wants to be housed 
in Ingatestone, under Brentwood Borough Council's 
remit, near friends and family.

The asthmatic, who also suffers from depression, 
anxiety, incontinence and alcohol dependency, 
doesn't work and receives £480 in benefits per month.

"I don't think anyone should be forced to live 
somewhere they're not happy to," says Mr Hilden.

Closest neighbour Lorraine Pocock, who lives 
about 200 metres further north on Three Mile Hill, is pro-eviction.

"He doesn't own the land and you can't just do 
what you like," said the grandmother-of-two.

"We all have to abide by the council regulations 
and he doesn't own it, he is not supposed to put 
a shed on it, and he is not supposed to live on it.

"If I want to put an extension on this house I 
have to give money to the council then go through 
the rules and regulations and respond to people 
telling me it's not in keeping with the character of the location.

"By the same right, you can't just put a shed up 
on a grass verge and expect people to say 'go on then'.

"If there were gypsies living there the council 
would straightaway evict him. One person's caravan is another person's shed."

Mr Hilden admits he is often away from home to 
see his parents in Galleywood or with friends, 
but Ms Pocock says she never noticed him until about seven months ago.

"How could he have lived there for five years and 
why would you go up there and slash his tent?" she said.

"He's only saying this because he wants a place 
to live from the council I suppose."

The Chronicle has seen letters from solicitors 
sent to his shed address dated 2009.

A city council planning spokesman said: "The 
building constitutes a breach of planning 
control, but the council is also concerned as to 
the safety and wellbeing of Mr Hilden occupying 
this site adjacent to a busy road within a 
building ill-suited for human habitation."

Despite repeated attempts, Margaretting Parish 
Council was unavailable for comment.


Read more: 
<http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/t-force-Homeless-man-lives-shed-A414-threatened/story-24198925-detail/story.html#ixzz3IWYg3sQI>http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/t-force-Homeless-man-lives-shed-A414-threatened/story-24198925-detail/story.html 
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