by A couple have been ordered to demolish a £100,000 extension which had planning permission after it emerged they did not own the land.
Wayne and Natalie Noke were granted planning permission to start work on their £2.1 million eight-acre home in the New Forest last summer.
However, they were forced to abandon the project after Forestry England (FE), a division of the Forestry Commission, threatened them with legal action.
The couple, who bought the five-bedroom house and attached cottage in the village of Bartley, Hants, in August 2021 were told the land they were building on was “Crown Land”.
Mr and Mrs Noke had bought the house and land together with Mrs Noke’s parents – Michael and Catherine Drummond – in a “dream” situation that would see them all living close to each other.
The couple had obtained planning permission to extend the cottage to provide living space on the ground floor for Mr Drummond, 80, who has Parkinson’s disease.
The family claims that neither they nor their attorney knew that they did not own all the land. But in September, officers from Forestry England visited the family and said the cottage is surrounded on three sides that do not belong to them.
A license of use has been in place since 1983 which prevents others from using it but does not allow the Nokes to build on it.
The couple argued that they only found out about the true ownership of the land in a letter later sent by Forestry England because the license was not included in the title deeds.
Work has now stopped and they fear they will have to take down the oak frame and slate roof.
The couple, who run a haulage company together, hope that an agreement can be reached through a land swap, purchase of the land, or by changing the terms of the license to allow them to build on it.
About 90 per cent of the New Forest, established by William the Conqueror in 1079, is owned by the Crown. About half of the national park is managed by Forestry England.
Mrs Noke, 53, said: “It’s a house we’ve known for many years and we were lucky to be able to buy it and have my parents in the cottage.”
She admitted it was a “dream” situation to have her parents nearby, but she wanted to help maintain her father’s independence by building an extension, which meant he didn’t have to climb stairs.
The New Forest National Park approved the proposal and work began in the summer of last year.
However, in September 2023, the couple received a letter from Forestry England informing them that the extension they were building was “partly on Crown land”.
Attached to the letter was a copy of a license informing the homeowners that the “land around the cottage” belonged to Forestry England.
Mr Noke said their solicitors and previous homeowners were unaware of this license as it is not on the title deeds.
Mrs Noke, 53, said: “I know ignorance is no excuse, but we weren’t told anything to make us aware of it. We have erred in innocence, it is a serious mistake.
Mrs Noke said because of the project being abandoned her father lives in her lounge, so he can access a toilet without going upstairs.
“What we have is, if there are potential options, how long is it, who is benefiting from taking it down?” she said. “The fence is still there, people will not be able to use the land.
“What do they gain by convincing us to take it down? If we had done it on purpose, I would have gotten it.
“I feel like we’re in such a different position than that: can we find a way around it humbly.
“We are the innocent party who is procedurally wronged,” she said.
In January, Mr Noke, 52, who has lived in the New Forest for 30 years, appealed to the New Forest Verderers Court, the body responsible for maintaining the forest, for their support of the land swap solution.
He told the open court: “I applied for planning permission on the basis that I owned the land and had no evidence to the contrary.
“I wouldn’t have applied for planning permission if I thought the land didn’t belong to me.”
He continued: “So we are left in a situation where there is a small area of forest land, which we previously believed to be ours, which is not accessible to the Commoner or the public.
“[Forestry England] write to us demanding that we take down the extension if we fail to initiate legal proceedings against us.
“We regard ourselves as innocent parties in all of this and we want to try to resolve the matter amicably.”
The Verderers
The couple suggested they would be willing to do a “land swap” with Forestry England “which would require the consent of the Farmers”.
In response to the “illegal encroachment”, the Verderers said: “It was agreed that it is not for the Court to decide the way forward to resolve this dispute.
“A land swap will be considered if Forestry England puts forward a proposal that is supported by all landowners involved.
“Generally the Court has not agreed to land swaps except in exceptional circumstances and when such a swap is in the public domain, rather than for a private interest only.”
In light of the comments, the couple are now awaiting a response from Forestry England.
Dr Julian Lewis, MP for New Forest East, is “supporting” the couple’s case.
In a letter to the New Forest National Park Authority, Dr Lewis said: “I feel compelled to intervene so that humanity and common sense prevail.
“This is not one of those cases where people irresponsibly overreach and seek retrospective approval, which they should have obtained in advance.”
A spokesman for Forestry England said: “We have been discussing this matter with Mr Noke directly and through legal representation from the very early stages of the construction work.
“The issues focus on construction carried out on Forestry England land which is designated and protected as part of the New Forest. While these discussions are ongoing we are unable to comment further.”
