Families fear another Dale Farm after plans submitted for Wilmington Gypsy site - Kent

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FAMILIES fear they could have another Dale Farm on their doorstep after plans were submitted for a Travellers' site on green belt land.

Almost 100 objections have so far been made opposing the proposals for a single traveller mobile home and touring caravan at Shirehall Farm in Shirehall Road, Wilmington.

Some worry that the plans could attract groups of Travellers to the area - not unlike Dale Farm.

Dale Farm was an illegal Travellers’ camp on green belt land in Essex that gained international press coverage when hundreds of families refused to leave the site.

Maria Ince, aged 30, who lives near to the farm, says she was horrified when she heard about the proposals.

The mother-of-one said: "It’s going to be a nightmare.

"There’s not going to be a site with just two caravans, there will be coach loads of Travellers.

"What’s to stop them putting illegal caravans on like Dale Farm? Then what will it cost the taxpayer to get them removed?

"It’s ridiculous."

Angela Kench of Mill Road, Dartford, said: "If planning is granted, more caravans will be moved on with more and more travellers arriving.

"We have all seen the devastation left behind when Travellers live on or move on from a campsite - mounds of rubbish, the damage done, showing no respect for the land.

"Surely since this is green belt land no one wants that."

But Dartford Council’s Wilmington ward councillor Derek Hunnisett sought to allay concerns and says a Dale Farm scenario is unlikely.

He said: "The application is restricted to the yard of the farmhouse, not the surrounding fields.

"People are thinking of it in terms of Dale Farm but it’s not the same.

He added: "I fully understand the concerns of the residents.

"Wilmington Parish Council has put in an objection to it because it’s an inappropriate use of green belt land."

People have until June 7 to have their say on the plans via Dartford Council’s planning portal at dartford.gov.uk

The agent for the developer could not be reached for comment.