WILLIAM and Kate will be protected by a huge no-go area banning locals from land near their new home.
CCTV cameras, massive fencing and landscaping will keep trespassers away from eight-bed Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berks.
William and Kate will be protected by a huge no-go area banning locals from land near their new home[/caption]
CCTV cameras, massive fencing and landscaping will keep trespassers away from eight-bed Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berks[/caption]
A car park and gate access to Windsor Great Park, which locals forked out £110 a year to use, shut for good at 7pm[/caption]
Fed-up dog walkers were given their marching orders from the area near William and Kate’s “forever home” and said the Home Office closure of a car park and loss of access is a “kick in the teeth”.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, both 43, and children George, 12, Charlotte, ten, and Louis, seven, will be protected by a no-go zone around eight-bedroom Forest Lodge.
A car park and gate access to Windsor Great Park, which locals forked out £110 a year to use, shut for good at 7pm.
Trespassers on the land will face arrest under the Home Office plans.
The area covers around 150 acres and has a 2.3-mile perimeter which is set to be signposted warning people not to enter.
Contractors were seen driving the last fence posts into the ground yesterday as Windsor Half Marathon participants ran past.
An order read: “Due to the pending designation of part of the Great Park as an exclusion area, access via Cranbourne Gate will permanently cease.”
Some residents were annoyed but accepted the royals’ security was of utmost importance.
Mechanical engineer Tom Bunn, 32, often parks at the gate to take nine-year-old pooch Mr Brown on a walk through the fields near Forest Lodge.
Tom, from Maidenhead, Berks, said: “Obviously it’s disappointing as my dog loves it here.
“We come here every couple of weeks and we’re going to have to find somewhere else now for him to get the miles in. But I completely understand the safety of William, Kate and their family is paramount so we should make sure they can live happily here.”
A woman, from nearby Winkfield, said: “Many of us have been walking our dogs here for 20 years so to be told we can’t any more is a kick in the teeth.
“We pay annually towards the upkeep of a park but we are no longer going to be allowed to use part of it.
“They’ve only given us a few days’ notice to say this section of forest is closing for ever.
“Now I’ll need to get in my car to drive further afield to take my dog for a walk.”
Locals had been able to apply to hold keys to Cranbourne Gate if they lived within half a mile.
Many of us have been walking our dogs here for 20 years so to be told we can’t any more is a kick in the teeth
A woman
Visitors from further afield would get Christmas trees from a shop within the boundary, which also contained an educational centre.
Other closed access points include Sandpit Gate, Woodend Gate and the South Forest.
Insiders say Wills and family are hoping for a fresh start after a difficult time at nearby Adelaide Cottage, during which Queen Elizabeth II died and Kate and Charles were diagnosed with cancer.
Another resident added: “We love the royals and William and Kate and it’s so exciting they are moving to Forest Lodge. It’s clear this car park closure has not come from them, but is down to security concerns.”
Workers have spent weeks erecting a huge wooden perimeter fence to close off woods and green space around the Grade II-listed Georgian house.
Trees have been planted for privacy, and special CCTV cameras installed in the field, with wiring dug under the soil at the rear of the property.
Dog walker Tom Bunn has mixed feelings and said: ‘Obviously it’s disappointing as my dog loves it here’[/caption]
Tom added: ‘But I completely understand the safety of William, Kate and their family is paramount’[/caption]
Public access is set to be permanently blocked once it becomes a designated property under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005.
The law protects crown land, private land belonging to the King or immediate heir.
Plans prepared by the Home Office now list Forest Lodge as a “new residence” on private Crown Estate land.
They show the new boundary was agreed by “all those involved” including Thames Valley Police and the Royal Household.
The decision, which did not need public consultation, reads: “The reason for the designation is that the site was previously in use by non-protected tenants, so the designation of land and property was not needed.
“By the relocation of a protected principal residing at the Forest Lodge site, it reflects its use as part of the wider Crown Land within Windsor and therefore is appropriate to afford this site the same protection as other Crown properties designated under section 128 of the SOCPA 2005.”
I completely understand the safety of William, Kate and their family is paramount so we should make sure they can live happily here
Tom Bunn
The order, brought by security minister Dan Jarvis, comes into force today after being made on September 4 and laid before Parliament on September 8.
It gives officers “powers of arrest for trespassers” and acts “as a deterrent for incursions”.
Last week Windsor Great Park wrote to paying members who use the car park to warn of “important changes to access”.
The note added: “We appreciate that for some members they may wish to cancel their membership — if this is the case then please contact the membership team to discuss further.”
Kensington Palace said it did not comment on security matters.
The Home Office was approached for comment.
