New Travellers' site could be full in two years - Bedfordshire

From Bedfordshire On Sunday

A councillor has warned that a contentious Travellers site could be full in just two years leaving the council to find more space to meet land requirements.

Cllr Tom Wootton claims that although planning permission has now been given for the Meadow Lane site in Bedford, Bedford Borough Council will be left looking for another large site in the next few years as the 15 pitches at Meadow Lane and three pitches at the Kempston Hardwick site will be full.

Cllr Wootton, who represents Wyboston ward, said: “Building Meadow Lane gets us out of jail for a couple of years but when it is full the council will have to start looking again.” A spokesman for Bedford Borough Council said: “These sites will help to reduce the number of illegal encampments in the borough by providing permanent pitches for the foreseeable future. However, the local need for Gypsy and Traveller pitches will continue to be assessed and action taken where appropriate.” The council’s Gypsy and Traveller Sites Plan, introduced last year, will allocate land to meet the need for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation in the borough.

As part of this process a consultation is due to start this week to assess the methodology used to determine the local need for Gypsy and Traveller pitches in the borough.” At the next meeting of the planning committee tomorrow, applications for three sites at Rushden Road, Bletsoe, Bedford Road, Roxton and Dane Hill Farm in Stevington, are recommended for refusal on the grounds that there will be sufficient space available for caravans at Meadow Lane and Kempston Hardwick.

Cllr Wootton said: “The Travellers themselves have said they want to be near shops, schools and hospitals and these rural sites are not suitable for that as they are in the middle of the countryside.”