Gypsy dad seeks Takeley site for daughters' families - Essex

From the Herts and Essex Observer

A SPELLBROOK Gypsy wants to build a permanent camp for his two daughters and their families in Takeley.

Residents of Bullocks Lane, on the Canfield border, fear Brian Humphreys’ bid to build hardstandings so the Hope End Green site can accommodate two static caravans and two trailer caravans would be the thin end of the wedge.

A spokeswoman for the householders said: “We … are being faced with the proposition of a travellers site in our quiet and unspoilt area of Essex.

“If granted, this would the third site to gain permission in the last couple of months. It is a site which was formally part of a larger nursery area and has, for the last 30 years been refused planning permission.”

She said: “We are extremely concerned about this proposal for a number of reasons.

“Firstly, this parcel of land is part of a much larger area of land which constitute the former nursery which is at this time derelict, which could mean that if this permission were granted, would become extremely valuable to no one else but travellers.

“Secondly we believe that this application is very likely to be a Trojan horse, its true nature being to construct houses for the developer in the near future.”

The residents also feared Uttlesford would rubber stamp the scheme because it has not yet identified enough other sites for Gy psies.

They have asked their district councillor, Jackie Cheetham, to step down as chairman of the planning committee which will determine the bid, so she can fight their corner.

Mr Humphreys’ agent, Stephen Hayhurst, a Braintree-based town planner, has told the council that the applicant’s daughters – Gentilia Marie Brant and Louie Jade Laird - were both former pupils of Takeley primary school.

“The applicant and his wife lived in Takeley and Little Canfield for 20 years and when the children were small travelled in the summer, mainly to the West Country.”

According to the report, Gentilia, now 23, and husband Joe, who is a door to door salesman, are currently living on a site with his parents in Kent along with their six-month-old daughter Isabelle Rose.

Louie, who is 21, is married to door to door carpet vendor James. They have a son, James Joseph, who was born in February this year and are, according to Mr Hayhurst, about to move to a site in East Herts for the winter.

To justify the scheme, he said Uttlesford needed around 24 permanent pitches and seven short stay pitches, plus two additional plots for travelling show people by 2021, but has so far approved five permanent and 13 temporary since 2008.

He said: “The intended occupiers of the site are relatively young people from a travelling background who wish to have a more settled existence so that their children can get a better education than they did and better access to health and community facilities.

“They have a long association with this area and it is understandable that they should wish their children to grow up in this locality.”

Uttlesford must determine the application by January 15.