Moston Gypsy site application turned down by Cheshire East planners

CONTROVERSIAL plans for a permanent Gypsy site near Sandbach have been rejected.

Cheshire East Council Southern Planning Committee has voted to overrule the recommendation of council officers and throw out Dennis Sheridan’s retrospective application to house one family in a mobile home with a touring caravan and stable block on the land at Thimswarra Farm, Dragons Lane, Moston.

More than 20 letters of objection were sent to the council over the plans to change agricultural land to a residential caravan site. They argued the development would affect property prices and create mess and litter.

On Wednesday, the council refused the application on grounds of sustainability and design. Councillors raised concerns that the application was for one family and not for a community.

As reported in the Chronicle, a similar application for the same site by previous land owner Alan Arrowsmith was rejected last year because he did not ‘qualify’ as a Gypsy.

However, in a report recommending the latest scheme for approval, council officers said there is a need for more Gypsy and Traveller sites in the council’s catchment area which must be ‘urgently’ addressed, but they accept the site is poorly located.

The report stated: “A number of representations make references to the application site lying within the green belt.

“However, this is not the case and according to the local plan, the whole of the application site is located wholly within the open countryside.

“Objectors have also said that if planning permission is approved for the proposed development, it will have a detrimental impact on house prices.

“While the concerns of the objectors are noted, issues to do with devaluation of properties are not a material planning consideration and as such are not a sufficient justification for warranting a refusal.

“It is acknowledged that the site is poorly located in order to access shops, services and other community facilities and the site is located in an unsustainable location.”

Local campaigners also highlighted the availability of alternative Traveller sites nearby.

Parish councils in Moston and Warmingham had sent objections, as well as Congleton MP Fiona Bruce.