Inspector to rule on Gypsy family site - Cheshire

From the Knutsford Guardian

A PLANNING inspector will now have the final say on a site being used by a Gypsy family in Pickmere.

An inquiry into the site on Spinks Lane was heard at Macclesfield Town Hall on March 25, and lasted for four days.

It has been used as a temporary site by the Dolan family for four years, but the family, who own the land, applied to make it a permanent Traveller site in 2009.

They lost an appeal a year later and decided to try again in the summer of 2012.

At a Cheshire East strategic planning meeting in August 2012 it was again rejected by committee members on the grounds that the land was in the Green Belt and it would damage the surrounding area.

A court order was then made, which will allow the site to be restored to grassland, but that is subject to the outcome of the planning appeal heard in Macclesfield two weeks ago.

Pickmere residents Steve Wilkinson and Chris Tarrant presented evidence on behalf of the village, while the Dolans also voiced their reasons why the site should be allowed to remain.

Mr Wilkinson told the Guardian not much had changed since the last planning appeal in 2010, and estimated the cost of the inquiry could have had hit £50,000.

“I pretty much said what I said at the first one,” he said.

“The whole point of our evidence was saying that nothing much has changed. But it’s all down to how the inspector interprets it.”

Cheshire East councillor Rachel Bailey said: “An appeal against refusal of planning permission for a Gypsy and Traveller site in Pickmere was heard through a public local inquiry between March 25 and 28.

“Cheshire East Council robustly defended its decision to refuse planning permission on the grounds of harm to the Green Belt and countryside and highway safety.

“The inspector will make his recommendation to the Secretary of State, who will issue his decision on or before August 7.”