Prince William and Princess Kate will be protected by a huge no-go area – banning locals from land near their new home.
Those living near the eight-bed Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, have branded the new measures as a “kick in the teeth”. A car park and gate access to the park closed for good last night, and now it is understood trespassers on the land will face arrest.
CCTV cameras, massive fencing and landscaping will keep trespassers away from the property, described as the Prince and Princess of Wales’ “forever home”. However, one woman, who lives nearby, 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.
William and Kate greet POTUS and First Lady in Windsor
“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.”
The no-go zone around Forest Lodge will protect Kate and William, both 43, and children George, 12, Charlotte, ten, and seven-year-old Louis. Locals had forked out ÂŁ110 a year to use the car park and gate access to the park, now closed to public as part of the 150-acres no-go area with a 2.3-mile perimeter.
Signposts are set to be erected to warn people not to enter. 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.”
Although other locals are unhappy with the changes, they respect the royals need the utmost security, The Sun reports. 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. The mechanical engineer 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.”
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.”
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 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.”
The Mirror has contacted Kensington Palace and the Home Office on the matter.
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