Councillors want checks on Gypsy site proposal - Shropshire

A CONTROVERSIAL application to establish a new site for Gypsies and Travellers opposite Henlle Park Golf Club has been refused, with its applicants told they can resubmit once checks have been carried out.

 The North Shropshire Planning Committee last week rejected the proposal put forward by Mr and Mrs J. Berry for a site opposite Henlle Golf club in Gobowen, seeking a change of use to allow the siting of four chalets and the erection of washroom and kitchen facilities as well as creation of, landscaping, carparking and drainage.

The North Shropshire planning committee refused the application in line with officers’ recommendations, but admitted the issues for refusal were ‘finely balanced.’ An initial application had been put before the committee in April 2010 when the first caravans entered the site and building work on the former waste site commenced despite a stop notice by Shropshire Council.

Addressing the meeting Councillor David Lloyd described the applicant’s actions as ‘a breathtakingly blatant disregard of the rules’ describing how excavators had moved in, a site office had been introduced, hedges ripped out and gates erected.

The planning officer’s appraisal noted: “This application is to establish a new site for Gypsies and Travellers. The development of such sites by their very nature are often contentious however local planning authorities are obliged to ensure that the accomodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers is assessed and addressed through a planning led process.”

Speaking at the meeting, Roy Jones Shropshire Council’s former counties Gypsy and Traveller liaison officer said the applicants had provided evidence of their local connection and that the other families proposed to live on the site were ‘known’ to the council’s current liaison officer.

The committee’s chairman Karen Calder however, pointed out  that the names of the other proposed residents had only been submitted ‘at the eleventh hour’ leaving insufficient time to properly verify their local connection.

Councillors said it was for this reason that they were refusing the application but added there was no reason the applicants could not resubmit once the checks had been carried out.