the breach
district council enforcement review
south west landscape protection
2026 case review
We are actively monitoring a significant planning breach in Harcombe Valley, 2 miles upstream from Lyme Regis in protected National Landscape.
East Devon District Council has recognised the breaches and taken enforcement action. But enforcement must ultimately deliver compliance. Until it does, the harm to Harcombe’s protected landscape is allowed to continue.
Protection only works if the rules are upheld.
The rules exist to protect this landscape. EDDC has a responsibility to make those rules mean something.
Harcombe lies within a nationally designated landscape, protected for its special character and natural beauty. Planning policies are in place to safeguard it and to ensure that unauthorised development does not gradually erode what makes it special.
Enforcement must lead to compliance. If breaches are allowed to persist, the landscape suffers, further harm becomes harder to prevent, and confidence in the planning system is undermined.
What happens at Harcombe matters beyond these fields. It is about whether the protections given to our countryside work in practice.
Our Mission: Protecting Harcombe Valley from further desecration — and restoring what has already been damaged....
We are dedicated to ensuring that planning policy is enforced with absolute integrity in Harcombe Valley, protecting our most precious landscapes for future generations.
Images shown on this page are actual site photos taken from public land or private land with permission.
Policy Enforcement
We hold EDDC and Highways to account — scrutinising decisions, challenging inaction and calling for the policies that protect our National Landscape and road safety to be upheld.
Community Action
Our core group is determined to ensure Harcombe cannot be ignored.
We watch the site, walk the footpaths, document change and maintain close contact with the relevant authorities.
The Council has taken enforcement action. The appeals have been dismissed and full costs awarded. Now that enforcement must deliver a result.
Because if planning controls cannot protect Harcombe at this point, what protection does National Landscape status really provide?
Legal Accountability
We press EDDC to meet its legal responsibilities and use its powers effectively — pursuing planning breaches, securing compliance and seeing enforcement through to its conclusion.
Join the action
Sign our Petition: Stop the Death by a Thousand Cuts
We are monitoring East Devon District Council (EDDC) and National Highways activity to execute immediate enforcement action to clear the unauthorised, unsanitised encampment in the Harcombe Valley and secure the hazardous A35 field gate. The absolute deadline issued by the Planning Inspector in the final ruling is November 19th 2026.
Our Operational Targets:
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25 Signatures: EDDC formally logs our case and issues a written response.
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750 Signatures: Calls for senior council officers to give evidence at a public meeting of the relevant Overview or Scrutiny Committee, where they can be asked to explain progress on this case. The officers who can formally be called are the Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer, Section 151 Officer, or Directors.
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1,500 Signatures: Triggers an automatic, high-profile Full Council Debate in front of all elected members.
Who Can Sign?
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Local Residents: Anyone who lives, works, or studies in East Devon.
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Visitors & Tourists: Anyone who visits, walks, or holidays in our National Landscape, uses the A35 corridor, or cares about the ecological health of the River Lim. Your use of our local paths and roads legally qualifies you to hold these public authorities to account.