Delays for Rossfield Road Gypsy and Traveller site proposals - Ellesmere Port

A DECISION on whether to build a controversial Gypsy site in Ellesmere Port has been hit by delays – after a council committee member was taken ill.

Proposals for the 15-pitch site on a council depot on Rossfield Road, Overpool, have led to an outcry from frustrated residents and business owners.

In November, Cheshire West and Chester Council Labour Group ‘called in’ the council’s decision to ditch plans for similar sites in Neston and Saughall.

The group supported the withdrawal, but claimed the executive had ‘failed in their duty’ to properly consult concerned residents.

The call-in was due for consideration by the council’s corporate scrutiny committee last month. But the meeting was postponed after Cllr Herbert Manley, executive member for prosperity, was hospitalised with pneumonia.

The call-in will now be considered on Monday, January 16. The delay has meant the proposals will no longer be considered by the council’s strategic planning committee on January 12, as planned.

Labour group leader Cllr Justin Madders said the meeting was likely to be delayed until February or March.
He said: “We got an assurance from the chairman that until the call-in’s been concluded there will be no decision.”

Cllr Madders said he was hopeful the meeting would take place in Ellesmere Port, rather than at the council’s HQ Building on Nicholas Street, Chester.

“My understanding is that they’ll be dealt with in Ellesmere Port, which is only right really. It’s important that the people who are affected are able to attend.”

A council spokesman said the process would not be taken further until the call-in was completed, adding it would ‘become more Ellesmere Port-central’.

Rossmore Industrial Estate business owners – some of whom have threatened to close if the site is given the green light – have questioned the suitability of the estate for a residential site.

A resident’s committee has also been formed to oppose the plans.