Cheslyn Hay Gypsy site owner in improvements claim - Staffordshire

From the Express and Star

The owner of a controversial Gypsy site in South Staffordshire claims her family taking up residence has improved the site.

Mother-of-four Amy Rodgers, aged 46, says before her family moved on to The Pony Paddock, Hospital Lane, in Cheslyn Hay, was blocked with rubbish and frequently fly-tipped.

There was also criminal activity taking place on the lane, said Mrs Rodgers, which has ceased since they moved in almost eight years ago.

Mrs Rodgers and her family were granted planning permission on Tuesday night to double the size of their site, allowing a further eight pitches there.

“Before we moved in, you couldn’t even get down the lane,” she said. “It was covered in fly-tipping. It was still happening when we came down here, but the police have been really good.

“It’s nice and pleasant down here now. We’ve been here for almost eight years.”

At a heated South Staffordshire District Council planning meeting on Tuesday night, councillors expressed fears that the site would continue to grow, creating ‘a small village on the fringes of Cheslyn Hay’.

Mrs Rodgers disputed these claims, stating the site, which is built on green belt land, is purely for members of her close family.

“Our family’s getting bigger now, with wives and husbands, so they like their own caravan,” she added.

“There’s not enough sites for Travellers around here. If our kids get married there’s nowhere for them to go. Out of my four children, one is married and another one’s getting married.

“I think the people who are worried it will become like a village down here have seen Dale Farm. This is just for the family, those that are close. Gypsies can’t be on the roads today.

Sometimes you’ll have to keep moving on and you won’t even have access to a doctor. Living on the road has faded out now.”

But Cheslyn Hay councillor Mac Harris, who stormed out of the planning meeting in protest, said granting permission for added plots on the site is unfair to other residents.

He said: “If anyone in the village wanted to put two caravans on their drive they wouldn’t be allowed to under planning law. If anyone wanted to develop on green belt, they would have their plans refused.

“It just seems to stick in the throat when things like this happen. There seems to be one law for Travellers and another for residents.”