Twyford Orchards Gypsy site: Green belt expansion plan - Berkshire

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A Traveller site in Berkshire could expand onto green belt land if council proposals are approved later.

Twyford Orchards encampment on London Road, in Twyford, currently breaches fire safety regulations because it has become overcrowded.

Wokingham Borough Council plans to replace the site's existing 16 pitches with a total of 20 pitches over a wider area, some of which is green belt land.

Councillor Keith Baker said it was an "extreme exception".
'Bit naughty'

The council said "strict licence conditions" were in place at the site to ensure it did not become overcrowded again.

London Road resident Josephine Blythe said the current encampment "is not a problem site and the residents seem like nice people", but described the council's plans as "a bit naughty".

The 44-year-old, who runs a pottery painting shop in Twyford, said: "The council wouldn't allow planning permission for other buildings on green belt land."

Mr Baker, executive member for Gypsy Roma Traveller liaison at Wokingham Borough Council, said most of the tenants at the site were either born there or had lived there for over 30 years.

"They are well integrated into the community and eviction is not something that is appropriate," he said.

"We are not setting a precedent and we will continue to fight any new developments in the green belt," he added.

If approved the proposals would be subject to planning permission.