breaking news: ITV Star Breaks His Silence On Bitter Planning Row
Iconic TV star rages at council in bitter planning row (Image: Getty)
Iconic TV star Martin Clunes has penned a furious letter in a fresh neighbour feud just months after losing a separate planning battle. The Doc Martin star fears another development will go ahead near his £5million home in Beaminster, Dorset, months after his neighbours were given permission to turn their temporary mobile home into a permanent travellers’ site next door.
He and his wife Philippa Braithwaite lost a four-year battle against New Age Travellers Theo Langton and his partner Ruth McGill, who had lived in a mobile home on a temporarily rolling licence for more than 20 years. Now, Andy Cream and Grace Burger have submitted plans for an organic farm on the other side of the famous couple’s property. Mr Clunes fears the pair also aims to set up a permanent home just 150 yards from his property. He claimed Dorset Council will allow Mr Cream and Ms Burger to do “whatever they like” in a sarcastic letter.
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Martin Clunes and Philippa Braithwaite have opposed plans (Image: Getty)
He wrote: “It seems that this application is the same as the original one made by this couple except that they no longer state that it is essential to their plans that they live at the site.
“I think that it is safe to assume, given the flimsy nature of their business plan that living at the site is their ultimate goal,” reports the Daily Mail.
Mr Cream and Ms Burger initially submitted plans in July 2025 to build a temporary agricultural workers dwelling, but this was dropped after local backlash, including Mr Clunes. They resubmitted an application in April just for the farm.
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The actor added: “From personal experience my advice to these applicants would be to carry on and do whatever they like on the land they have bought. They can ignore any rulings or conditions applied by Dorset County Council as they will not enforce them.”
He raged: “At no point will Dorset County Council address, acknowledge or apologise for any lack of action on their part as they are answerable to no one and operate without regulation.”
Ms Braithwaite previously said the initial application seemed a “roundabout way to get round the planning system so they can eventually convert the barn to a house”.
She added: “The area is a protected AONB where any planning decisions must protect or enhance the environment – these applications do neither and a large polytunnel and barn will detract from this magical piece of ancient land.”
The veg-box pair said they want to grow more than 100 varieties of seasonal vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers, and deliver them locally to residents and businesses by e-bike.
They want to build a storage barn, two polytunnels for crops and a greenhouse. Plans said it would improve the “food security, carbon footprint, health and biodiversity of the local area”.
Beaminster Town Council is against the plans, stating that the polytunnels and greenhouse would not be in keeping with the protected rural area.
While the proposals have sparked outrage, dozens of members of the community support them, including Mr Clunes’ new permanenet neighbours, Mr Langton and Ms McGill, who sought consent to remain on the site nextdoor permanently when their license expired in 2022. Mr Clunes accused them of being “dishonest” over their application.
