Furious residents want answers over Traveller site plans for Winsford

“WHY is it always Winsford?” is the question residents want answered in response to controversial plans for a Gypsy and Traveller site in the town.

 At a heated community forum meeting at Wyvern House, angry residents voiced their fury over the proposed site, which includes 20 permanent pitches, on land off Barlow Drive.

Chris Mitchell, who lives near the site, said not enough people had been consulted over the plans, for which a decision is expected in the New Year.

He added: “I don’t feel I have been consulted enough about this application – does it not affect the whole of Winsford and the surrounding area?

“We need proper representation in these planning meetings.”

Alison Taylor, who also lives near the site, agreed. She said: “There is going to be a new housing estate built near this site which we have had letters through the door about - yet we have had nothing from the council about this Gypsy site.”

Residents also felt the town was already doing its bit for Travelling communities.

One speaker at the meeting said: “Why has Winsford been picked on again when we already have our fair share of sites?

“Why hasn’t historic Chester, or leafy Tarporley, or some of the more affluent areas of Cheshire been chosen?”

Another resident said: “Winsford holds 10 per cent of the Cheshire West and Chester population. If the proposed sites are approved it will mean 50 per cent of all Traveller sites in the borough will be in Winsford.”

The application, submitted by Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC), is for outline planning permission and will go before a strategic planning committee in January. A final date for this meeting has yet to be arranged.

A further site, for travelling Showpeople, has been earmarked for Winsford Industrial Estate.