Sir Elton John, his wealthy neighbours and the fight to keep gipsies out of their village
The wealthy residents of the quiet village of Old Windsor in the grounds of Windsor Castle are up in arms over plans to open a gipsy and traveller camp near their homes amid fears of reprisals if they object.
The multi-millionaire singer flew into Britain in the middle of last week and is believed to have travelled to his Windsor home with civil partner David Furnish and their son Zachary. Photo: REX FEATURES
The developer behind the scheme is a controversial businessman who owns mobile home parks across the country.
Maurice "Fred" Sines, a racehorse owner who claims Romany heritage, has been involved in a number of disputes after being accused of harassing his tenants.
Mr Sines' plans threaten the tranquillity of Old Windsor and Sir Elton's palatial estate, which backs on to the land where the permanent gipsy camp would be built.
The multi-millionaire singer flew into Britain in the middle of last week and is believed to have travelled to his Windsor home with civil partner David Furnish and their son Zachary.
A close friend of the star reacted in horror when alerted to the proposal by Telegraph.
Sir Elton is weighing up whether he should join his neighbours in objecting to the planning application in a field within sight of his house.
Just a few acres of grazing land separate the singer's back fence and the location of the planned gipsy site.
The siting of the camp will also affect the £3.6 million holiday home of Croatian racing driver turned billionaire business magnet Goran Strok, who brought the neighbouring mansion from golfer Nick Faldo four years ago.
Last week angry residents, among them retired bankers, doctors, university professors, senior airline managers and even the secretary of the local "shift and punt" club, who take to the River Thames every week, staged a mass protest.
Mr Sines, 48, who drives a Bentley, made his money from a string of caravan leisure parks around Britain, including one adjourning the site of his proposed new development at Newtonside Orchard.
The current leisure park, which he runs with his 22-year-old son Fred junior, sits alongside one of the main roads through the village, south of the town of Windsor itself and Windsor Great Park, once the Royal Family's private hunting ground.
Mr Sines, who once owned a thoroughbred racehorse called Romany Princess, is no stranger to controversy.
In the past he has featured on the BBC consumer programme Watchdog which investigated how he had allegedly attempted to "persuade" residents in King's Lynn, Norfolk, to give up their homes to make way for another money making scheme.
He has also paid residents in Blewbury, Oxfordshire, £75,000 in damages and signed an order promising not to threaten or harass residents after they accused him of preventing them from selling their homes.
Mr Sines denied the allegations and said the damages were to compensate people for living in a building site for three years.
He angered residents at another mobile home park when he raised the annual rents for their allotments from £1 to £300 per plot.
The land he wants to build his new "facility" on is currently set aside for recreation and leisure, but earlier this month he submitted a full planning application for a change of use to a "gipsy and travellers accommodation site".
Last week 300 Old Windsor residents crowded into the village's day centre to protest against the gipsy camp plans. The elected members of The Old Windsor Parish Council were forced to move their monthly meeting from their normal parish hall to cram in the angry locals.
Chairman Ian Troughton addressed the meeting through a loudspeaker so those at the back could hear what was going on.
And rows of immaculately dressed locals were asked to shuffle forwards to squeeze more of their neighbours in to the packed hall.
Normally at the bottom of the agenda "planning matters" was elevated to the top of the Parish Council list and, after some debate, was thrown open to the floor for discussion on the "travellers proposition."
"My concerns are the levels of crime really", said one woman who refused to give her name for fear of "reprisals".
Others also refused to give their names as they rose to speak, again talking darkly about fears of intimidation.
One woman, again asking to remain anonymous, said: "I have lived here for 28 years and it's a sleepy village and it's family orientated. Everybody has got to have a place to live but if they could only live in a civilised manner and pay taxes like everyone else in the village.
"I know they have to live somewhere, but this is right in the middle of the village."
Another villager said that people did not want to write to the planning authority to object because it would have to publish people's names and addresses. She said: "Everybody is upset about it. The last thing they want you to do is put your name in."
The developer Mr Sines did not attend the Parish Council meeting and did not respond to messages left at his office by the Telegraph.
Just a few acres of grazing land separate the singer's back fence and the location of the planned gipsy site.
The siting of the camp will also affect the £3.6 million holiday home of Croatian racing driver turned billionaire business magnet Goran Strok, who brought the neighbouring mansion from golfer Nick Faldo four years ago.
Last week angry residents, among them retired bankers, doctors, university professors, senior airline managers and even the secretary of the local "shift and punt" club, who take to the River Thames every week, staged a mass protest.
Mr Sines, 48, who drives a Bentley, made his money from a string of caravan leisure parks around Britain, including one adjourning the site of his proposed new development at Newtonside Orchard.
The current leisure park, which he runs with his 22-year-old son Fred junior, sits alongside one of the main roads through the village, south of the town of Windsor itself and Windsor Great Park, once the Royal Family's private hunting ground.
Mr Sines, who once owned a thoroughbred racehorse called Romany Princess, is no stranger to controversy.
In the past he has featured on the BBC consumer programme Watchdog which investigated how he had allegedly attempted to "persuade" residents in King's Lynn, Norfolk, to give up their homes to make way for another money making scheme.
He has also paid residents in Blewbury, Oxfordshire, £75,000 in damages and signed an order promising not to threaten or harass residents after they accused him of preventing them from selling their homes.
Mr Sines denied the allegations and said the damages were to compensate people for living in a building site for three years.
He angered residents at another mobile home park when he raised the annual rents for their allotments from £1 to £300 per plot.
The land he wants to build his new "facility" on is currently set aside for recreation and leisure, but earlier this month he submitted a full planning application for a change of use to a "gipsy and travellers accommodation site".
Last week 300 Old Windsor residents crowded into the village's day centre to protest against the gipsy camp plans. The elected members of The Old Windsor Parish Council were forced to move their monthly meeting from their normal parish hall to cram in the angry locals.
Chairman Ian Troughton addressed the meeting through a loudspeaker so those at the back could hear what was going on.
And rows of immaculately dressed locals were asked to shuffle forwards to squeeze more of their neighbours in to the packed hall.
Normally at the bottom of the agenda "planning matters" was elevated to the top of the Parish Council list and, after some debate, was thrown open to the floor for discussion on the "travellers proposition."
"My concerns are the levels of crime really", said one woman who refused to give her name for fear of "reprisals".
Others also refused to give their names as they rose to speak, again talking darkly about fears of intimidation.
One woman, again asking to remain anonymous, said: "I have lived here for 28 years and it's a sleepy village and it's family orientated. Everybody has got to have a place to live but if they could only live in a civilised manner and pay taxes like everyone else in the village.
"I know they have to live somewhere, but this is right in the middle of the village."
Another villager said that people did not want to write to the planning authority to object because it would have to publish people's names and addresses. She said: "Everybody is upset about it. The last thing they want you to do is put your name in."
The developer Mr Sines did not attend the Parish Council meeting and did not respond to messages left at his office by the Telegraph.
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