From the Goole Howden Courier
CONTROVERSIAL plans to extend an existing Travellers’ site at Burn were pushed further ahead by Selby District Council last week.
And the move has been met with outrage from campaigning parties.
The proposals would see the current site of seven pitches, which have been in place for 25 years, expanded by a further 15 at an estimated cost of £188,000 to SDC.
Burn Parish Council leader Councillor Chris Phillipson said: “I’m disgusted at the majority of district councillors that voted this through.
“It was clearly a done deal before it even went to council. It’s disgusting, they were following the pied piper. There’s conflicts of interests all around and the council are riding rough shod over us again.
“We will go back to our legal team now and see what else we can do.”
Independent councillor Mary McCartney added: “The council have already spent money on preparing the planning application and producing the tender for the construction of the new site and on Tuesday they agreed that even if their grant application to the Homes and Communities Agency fails then they will push ahead with the scheme with other partners.
“In their own Preferred Options Document they stated that they would not force a Traveller site upon a community yet they are now clearly doing that.
“The entire Gypsy and Traveller site search has been a complete and utter shambles from start to finish and it is residents of Burn who will now suffer from that shambles.”
An SDC spokesman said: “The council has a legal responsibility to provide suitable accommodation for the Gypsy and Traveller community; failure to do so leaves the authority unable to robustly defend any unauthorised encampments anywhere in the district.
“The proposal currently being worked on is to develop the site at Burn. Any proposal will be subject to the full and robust planning process, during which further consultation will take place.”
The total cost of the development is £940,000 with an 80 per cent grant being sought from the HCA towards this.
This site is unsuitable for the traveller community and doesn't abide by any government advice on where to best site traveller pitches. Selby Council are letting everyone down by their own incompetence in the site selection process and it is opposed by Burn residents and the travellers on the existing neighbouring site.
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