A FAMILY forced out of their Water Park home by planning enforcement action have hit out at the council for failing to take similar action against a property developer.

In October it was found that property developers Watermark Group had breached regulations in the amount of landfill it had dumped into Lake 31 at Cotswold Water Park and Beach.

However, CDC decided not to take enforcement action against the developers.

Dean and Elenice Hill and their three children were one of four families who have been subject to enforcement action for allegedly breaching the planning conditions of their homes.

A furious Mr Hill said: "I can’t understand why they are being so persistent in pursuing us but leaving them (Watermark) alone.

"This happened in CDC’s own back yard and I can’t understand why they’re not doing anything about it."

Mr Hill said he and his family had been forced to leave their home at the Isis Lakes development at South Cerney after CDC told them they had been using it as a second home instead of its intended use as a holiday home.

In a letter to CDC's cabinet leader Lynden Stowe Mr Hill called on the authority to take action against Watermark.

"It is now time for you to back off from hounding individual owners and proceed correctly by challenging the guilty parties and not their victims," he said.

Parish councils around the Water Park have also hit out at CDC for failing to take action against Watermark.

South Cerney Parish Cllr Philip Nicholas said: "There is now a profound lack of confidence in the ability of CDC to enforce such planning conditions, or to admonish its officers for not performing their duty. "Moreover, no assurances have been given that steps are being taken to prevent it happening again.”

CDC chief executive David Neudegg and head of development services Philippa Lowe have been arranging meetings with the parish councils to discuss their concerns.

A spokesman from CDC said the decision not to take action against Watermark had been the result of careful consideration by a member panel.

"Their findings have confirmed that, while there had been a breach, it would not have been in the public interest for the Council to take immediate enforcement action, and the subsequent dialogue undertaken between the developer and planners had been the right approach," he said.

He added that all residents were made aware of the conditions of residency when they bought their homes.

In response to these issues, Mr Hill has spearheaded the setting up of the Waterpark Owners Network, a group of residents working together to protect their ownership rights.

Mr Hill said he felt CDC had seriously mishandled the issue.

"I would estimate they have spent around £100,000 taking action against us," he said.

"I’m not interested in further arguments – the solution lies in sitting down like grown-ups and coming up with a solution for the people who live there now as well as the future tenants."