New Gypsy plan ‘is just a waste of time’ - Ledbury

A NEWENT residents’ group says a fresh application for a Travellers site in the town is a waste of time and money.

The occupants of the site at Southend Lane have applied to Forest of Dean District Council to change the use of the land, allowing 13 caravans to be sited and storage and utility buildings to be built.

The Travellers currently remain at the site, which they have been occupying since May 2009, despite being ordered by a planning inspector to leave by Tuesday, January 31.

A previous planning application was rejected by the district council in February 2010, a decision which was upheld by a planning inspector after the applicants appealed.

And now members of Residents Against Inappropriate Development (RAID) say the new application should be rejected.

“We have read the new application and are of the opinion that most of the proposed developments are the same as those put forward previously,” they said in a statement this week.

“Yet another government inquiry would be a call on tax-payers’ money that could be used for other council activities.

“It appears to us that the strategy of repeated appeals is not in the public interest.

“As in the Dale Farm situation appeals can be extended over many years. It can be a waste of council officers’ time and a waste of taxpayers’ money.”