Ten sites in Uttlesford put forward for Travellers - Essex

From the Herts and Essex Observer

TEN sites across Uttlesford could be made home for the travelling community after being put forward by landowners.

Open space in parishes including Takeley, Debden, Arkesden and Hempstead has been suggested as potential locations for Gypsy families to live as part of the district council’s ‘call for sites’ public consultation.

Land south of the B1256 opposite Taylors Farm in Takeley as well as plots adjacent to Lolands Bungalow and Cranwellian in the village have been mooted, along with Five Acres in Wicken Bonhunt, Lovecotes Farm in Debden and Anso Corner Farm in Hempstead. Two further sites have been put forward in Great Canfield.

The sites will now be assessed by council officers and those considered suitable will go back out to public consultation later this year.

In the meantime, landowners or their representatives may still suggest sites to UDC for consideration.

The proposed Wicken Bonhunt site, which has been earmarked for Travellers for more than a year and has been consistently opposed by villagers, would feature up to 15 plots over two hectares.

Three separate sites have been suggested at Lovecotes Farm in Debden, covering a total are of 8.5 hectares and requiring the removal of an existing race track.

The Hempstead site could include as many as 25 pitches over 1.5 hectares, whereas the three Takeley sites would only cover 0.4 hectares each.

Cllr Simon Howell, who represents Hempstead on the council, said he had received several calls from concerned residents.

“It is a most unsuitable site in a very quiet rural location, on a dangerous bend in a very narrow road, in a picturesque hamlet surrounded by listed properties,” he said. “I would struggle to think of a less suitable place.

“There is also nothing to suggest there is demand or need on anything like the scale proposed.”

“I don’t believe that it could ever be justified here but now we have been suggested, we are on a journey and it is going to cause residents upset and distress.”

The ‘call for sites’ consultation was carried out alongside an ongoing Essex-wide Gypsy and Traveller Needs Assessment, which aims to study existing provision in the county and assess the housing needs of Gypsies, Travellers and travelling Showpeople.

A UDC spokeswoman said it would not be commenting on individual sites at this stage.

“These sites have not been assessed by officers and are reported as a factual response of the consultation,” she said.

“The call for sites is simply a list of suggestions of sites for Gypsy and Traveller development. Inclusion in the list is not an indication that the site is suitable for development.”