Gypsy site plan could be scrapped - Cambridgeshire

From the Newmarket Journal

CONTROVERSIAL plans to build 14 Gypsy and Traveller pitches in Fordham countryside could be scrapped.

Two plots of land in Isleham Road were identified by East Cambridgeshire District Council (ECDC) to accommodate the new pitches, with six planned for one of the plots and eight for the other.

However, after 250 residents attended a public meeting in Victoria Hall, Fordham, last Wednesday, to voice their opinions on the plan, the district council has confirmed that the proposal could be removed.

Katie Child, principal forward planning officer at ECDC, said: “In recent days we have learnt that the owner of one of the proposed sites has indicated they are no longer willing to have their land used – we are awaiting confirmation of this in writing.

“The other site earmarked in the area may not meet the specifications which we require. All these issues will be taken into account and debated by councillors at the development and transport committee in November.”

Residents at the meeting were backed by district councillors Michael Allan and Joshua Schumann, as well as MP for South East Cambridgeshire Jim Paice.

“I think that in a search for sites the council needs to look not just at what is convenient but look at the best options, rather than where they might be able to get their hands on it, and what just happens to be available,” Mr Paice said.

A spokesman for the district council said that the committee meeting on November 6 was still scheduled to take place at 2pm in Ely, but he added that if the Fordham proposal fell through the meeting would not go ahead.