Travellers' site plan opposed - Cornwall

From the West Briton

A PACKED parish council meeting has recommended refusal of an application to make a Travellers' site permanent, citing fears that it would attract more residents.

It was standing room only at the St Agnes Parish Council planning committee meeting on Monday evening.

The application to create three permanent pitches for existing Traveller families and for the erection of two compost toilets and a utility shed on farmland near Mount Hawke Youth Club was recommended for refusal by the parish council on the grounds that it would cause undue pressure on local infrastructure.

Most of those who attended said they opposed Cornwall Council giving permission since doing so would attract more Travellers, as had happened at sites in other parts of the country.

One of the objectors, Graham Hill, said he welcomed the parish council's recommendation but felt it had been unprepared for the dozens of people who turned out to question the planning committee and hear its members' deliberations.

"My main concern was that the council room wasn't big enough and they hadn't thought about relocating for such a big issue," he said.

"I understand that this has happened before, when the meeting was abandoned."

The council will now forward its recommendation to Cornwall Council, which will make the final decision.

The recommendation for refusal states that Cornwall Council should "strictly limit new Traveller site developments in open countryside that is away from existing settlements or outside areas allocated in the development plan."

It also urges the unitary authority "to ensure that sites in rural areas reflect the scale of or do not dominate the nearest settlement community and avoid undue pressure on local infrastructure".