WAVERLEY Borough Council has been accused of failing to “uphold the law” following extensive groundworks on the land where dog breeder John Lowe murdered two women in 2014.

Developer Raw Element (Waverley) Ltd recently applied for planning permission to demolish the farm house at Keepers Cottage Stud in Waverley Lane - where Christine Lee and her daughter Lucy were shot dead on February 23, 2014, a crime for which Lowe is serving a life sentence at Highdown Prison - and in its place build three luxury houses.

This was dismissed by Waverley’s head of planning Elizabeth Sims on the grounds that the “unacceptable scale, position and bulk” of the new homes would have a harmful impact on the character of the site and the Green Belt.

However, despite welcoming Mrs Sims’ decision, neighbours of Keepers Cottage Stud have since criticised Waverley for refusing to launch enforcement action against the developer in response to the significant “illegal” groundworks already undertaken on the site.

According to neighbours, the new owners of Keepers Cottage Stud have stripped back an “enormous” amount of grass, wildflowers, topsoil and protected trees without permission, and yet both the council and the police have so far failed to act.

In a joint statement, a group of neighbours who wished to remain anonymous said: “The council were made aware of this illegal action, visited the site and acknowledged these felled trees were protected by tree protection orders. The police also confirmed that wildlife crimes had been committed.

“However, we have recently been told the council do not believe it is in the public interest to prosecute or take the matter any further with the developer, leading one to believe the developer is seemingly able to get away with doing what it wants in the pursuit of profit.”

Waverley confirmed the tree preservation orders were indeed breached but added the felled trees are of “very little amenity value” and as such it will not be taking formal enforcement action against the developer.

A spokesman for the council said: “Keepers Cottage is located on land which is subject to a Woodland Tree Preservation Order. There is an area of land surrounding the dwelling which is excluded from the order.

“After the council received a complaint, relating to the felling of trees on the land, a planning enforcement officer visited the site and instructed the contractors to cease all works in order to carry out a thorough inspection. The inspection found that some felling had taken place, though the trees removed were not of any significant age.

“The council’s tree and landscape officer also visited the site and determined, due to the high sand content of the topsoil and sublayers, the groundworks under the tree canopies were unlikely to cause harm to the trees.

“A second complaint was received by Waverley alleging the felling of a 30-year-old oak tree. An additional visit was undertaken by the tree and landscape officer but no evidence was found to substantiate this claim.

“Waverley has concluded that the felled trees provided very little amenity value. Therefore, while a breach of the tree preservation order has taken place, no formal action will be taken as an application for consent to fell the trees would have, in all likelihood, been successful.”

On Waverley’s advice, the neighbours have also contacted Surrey Police who they say sent officers to inspect the site and later confirmed wildlife laws have been broken. However, again Surrey Police is yet to take further action against the developer.

One of the aforementioned neighbours added: “It seems a shame to have laws in place and ignore them. I would have thought the role of an enforcement officer was to uphold the law, much like a policeman’s role, and it is then the courts whom are the law and make the decisions.

“One would have thought that when a clear breach of a law has occurred they would report it to the authorities otherwise what is the point in enforcement. It seems a breach in terms of [the council’s] responsibility in looking after an AONB and Green Belt, not to mention the foraging wildlife.”

A police spokesman said: “Surrey Police received a call on June 16 around 1pm reporting a wildlife crime in progress at an address in Tilford.

“The caller reported that a digger had arrived at the address the day before and had started digging, which they did not have permission to do.

“Officers attended the site and established that a tree had blown down and they were clearing the debris, and that no trees were being dug up.

“The matter has subsequently been passed to Waverley Borough Council.”