Travellers' site up for discussion at cabinet - Berkshire

From the Slough and South Bucks Observer

COUNCILLORS will rule tonight on whether plans for a contentious Travellers' site should be allowed to progress.

The proposed site, in Mill Place, Datchet, is on the agenda for tonight's Royal Borough cabinet meeting at Town Hall, in St Ives Road, Maidenhead, at 7.30pm.

Councillors will decide whether to drop the site from the consultation to find new Traveller accommodation or allow a planning application to be submitted.

A report by Royal Borough officers recommends the site be tested by a planning application.

Two conflicting petitions on the site have attracted nearly 1,000 responses.

The e-petition against, led by James Wilson of the Datchet Common Community Group, has been supported by 779 names.

The petition for, led by Thomas Giles, has received 204 signatures.

Cllr Ian Thompson, Datchet Parish Council's flooding spokesman, will also give a presentation outlining the flood risk on the common.

The proposed development will be built on flood plain and green belt land, but officers recommend priority be given to finding Travellers new accommodation.

The Royal Borough's Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment, conducted in September 2012, acknowledged the need for nine additional Traveller pitches over the next five years, plus a possible two additional pitches in respect of pitches with temporary permission that will expire within the next two years.

The assessment also identified the need for a further 13 Traveller pitches in the Royal Borough over the following ten years.

Cabinet is also due to discuss a petition to reduce the speed limit in Forest Green Road, Maidenhead, from 60mph to 40mph.