Brentland Ltd owner Christ Bulstrode offers Highcliffe ‘Jesmond Wood’ land at a price after BCP Council blocks latest planning bid

The man at the centre of a row over a Highcliffe woodland says the parish can have it – for a price.

Chris Bulstrode was responding to demands by Highcliffe and Walkford Parish Council chair Adam Sofianos after the latest plan for homes on land at Jesmond Avenue was thrown out.

It was Mr Bulstrode’s fifth attempt to build on the site, which is owned by his company Brentland Ltd since its purchase for £300,000 in 2018.

The land had been a compulsory purchase from his family’s firm – then known as Boyland & Son Ltd, in 1965 by Hampshire County Council for the purpose of building a relief road. But the road was never built.

Around 200 people objected to the latest application, and Cllr Sofianos called on Mr Bulstrode to “give it to public hands”, adding “I call on the owner to begin discussions with BCP officers for the repurchase of the land.”

Mr Bulstrode has now said he would be willing to sell it to the parish: “We’d very much like the community to buy our land, to build many badly needed affordable homes to rent, or buy perhaps or do as they wish with it.”

Mr Bulstrode also threatened BCP with High Court action after he said it designated the area as “open land” in its draft local plan.

On his latest failure for planning permission, Mr Bulstrode said: “Our last refusal of a PIP application was on technical issues only. To be clear, we have a contractual obligation with now BCP to continue making these applications to justify, if nothing else, the £300k overage on approval.

“The open space reference in the refusal is also spurious and illegal.

“Building on land that was once to be the Highcliffe relief road, on a bus route in the middle of a town, with a medical centre adjoining and less than a mile from a train station will also relieve pressure on Chewton Common and the New Forest in years to come, so these objections, we believe, are narrow and shortsighted.”

The long-wrangling row over the land which Mr Bulstrode says was “never woodland” has been ongoing for years. Residents organised a campaign against his attempts to build on it, including picketing the land.

Mr Bulstrode, who once dubbed himself the “most hated man in Highcliffe” has enclosed the area with metal fences and ‘keep out’ notices.

In response, Cllr Sofianos said: “It's positive to hear that the owner of Jesmond wood is considering returning the land back to public hands. The appropriate next step is for him to approach BCP officers directly and to open discussions. I'm sure there can be a way forward, and we'll certainly support that as far as we can.

“The owner was originally obliged only to submit one application, within two years of acquiring the woodland. Nine years and five applications later, Jesmond wood remains undeveloped and surely undevelopable.

“The Highcliffe community would love to see this woodland safeguarded for the future, and we encourage the owner to begin that process.”