Residents 'will not accept' Gypsy site on green belt - Surrey

From Get Surrey

RESIDENTS fear land could be ruined and badger habitats destroyed if a Gypsy family is allowed to build on a green belt site in Byfleet.

After an application was submitted to Woking Borough Council on January 12 to turn land south of Murray’s Lane into four pitches for an extended Romani Gypsy family with associated works, four day rooms, hardstanding and a septic tank, local people have voiced their objections.

Byfleet resident Andrea Boutell, 41, said: “The green belt land is supposed to be used for agricultural use only.

“It is not suitable for caravans or heavy vehicles as it is frequently used by children playing, dog walkers, cyclists and people enjoying the countryside and all it provides.

“Byfleet village is a wonderful community where we all look after and out for each other. We will not accept this.”

In 1989 the Department for Environment and Transport applied for planning permission for the land south of Murray’s Lane. Its plans for a single-storey and two-storey dwellings were denied on grounds that the green belt land should continue to be protected.

Lesley Hamilton, 67, of Pipers Hill, Byfleet, said she was angry at the prospect of any building works going ahead.

“Plans have been rejected in the past so why should they change the requirements for this one?” Mrs Hamilton said.

“Woking Borough Council has upheld the metro green belt every time a planning application was put in. I believe in the green belt and we should all be treated equally under the law.

“I do not believe being part of a different community entitles you to different treatment.”

A Woking Borough Council spokesman confirmed the borough was required to have 10 pitches for the travelling community between 2006 and 2016, and said although only 10 were required it did not mean the authority would not consider applications made for more.

Charmaine Valler, 50, of Ash Road in Aldershot, is from the travelling community and breeds goats and pigs on the land opposite the Byfleet site.

“I have a very good relationship with each and every neighbour who surround my boundary, we have no issues at all,” she said.

“But I do understand the village reaction when the planning application went in because it is green belt.”

Mrs Cryer, like other residents, said she was concerned about a badger sett in the area.

Dave Williams, mammal officer for Surrey Wildlife Trust, said badgers need an area to forage and without this they may be forced to move away.

He said the badgers currently living in the area were "an ancient sett that has been there a long time".

A spokesman for the trust said: “The trust will assess the current biodiversity value of the proposed development site and the possible impact of the proposal on habitat and species and advise the planning authority.

“Woking Borough Council as the statutory authority has the responsibility to ensure that legally protected species are not adversely affected by development works and is required to ensure that the biodiversity value of the site and locality is not adversely affected”.