Carpenders Park Gypsy site: More than 1,000 oppose application - Hertsfordshire

From the Watford Observer

Residents have urged councillors to avoid creating "a potential Dale Farm scenario" by blocking an application for a 12-caravan Gypsy site on a green belt field in Oxhey Lane.

The application to build hard standing in Green Acres and convert existing stables into day accommodation for six Gypsy families has already attracted opposition with 62 neighbours making representations against the application while 1,194 people have signed a petition opposing the site.

If granted, the application would also see existing stables on the site converted to "day rooms" while an amount of hard standing would be put down to accommodate the caravans.

Residents have also voiced their objections directly to the council, warning: "A site of this size would attract other Gypsies and travellers, resulting in unlawful incursions and a potential Dale Farm scenario."

The 10-year illegal occupation of land at Dale Farm near Basildon ended in 2011 when bailiffs and police cleared the site, leading to violent clashes with residents and protestors. The total cost to Basildon Council is believed to be about £8 million.

Other concerns raised by residents relate to the loss of visual amenity, increased strain on local amenities, an increase in crime and a fall in property prices if the site made the surrounding area less desirable.

Georgina Ford, secretary of the Carpenders Park Residents Association, said in a letter to the council: "The site is the last bit of Green Belt land separating Carpenders Park from Hatch End and therefore is of great importance to the residents marking the boundary between Hertfordshire and London.

"The residents would be opposed to any application to build construct residential accommodation on this site regardless of the applicant and also note with horror that land adjoining the northern boundary of the site, not owned by the applicant, is currently being advertised as development land."

The objections prompted Three Rivers District Councillors to "call in" the application, meaning it will be decided at a public hearing on Thursday (April 18).

However, despite the objections, the report prepared by council officers recommends temporarily approving the application for a period of three years.

The report concedes that the development is both inappropriate and harmful to the openness of the green belt but says it is not sufficient for the authority to refuse permission.

A representation from Norbert McCabe, head of Hertfordshire County Council’s Gypsy Section said: "In my dealings with him (the applicant), I have found him to be trustworthy and reliable.

"Mr Daley (the applicant) is well respected within the Gypsy and traveller community and has been used by the Gypsy Section as an intermediary in disputes among families on our sites."

The application comes less than a month after the Watford Observer revealed a 3.5 hectare area of green belt land in Tolpits Lane had been earmarked by Three Rivers for a new traveller site.

However, as this was a consultation document it is not currently considered to contribute towards the identified need for eight pitches by 2022.