Protests at north Cumbrian woodland being used as Travellers' site - Cumbria

From the News and Star

Residents are protesting about a former woodland area being used as a Travellers’ site.

The land at Woodlands View, Sandysyke, near Longtown, was given temporary permission to be used as a home for the MacDonald family. However, it has since been sold to Jim Devers, who wants his family to be allowed to live there.

But nearby residents have objected, saying the permission was only for Mr MacDonald’s family.

Several neighbours living in a road near the site, Woodside, have lodged objections, including David Smith, who said Mr MacDonald’s family had left the site for “some time now.”

He added that the conditions had been breached for several months and that permission for the site should be revoked.

Vanessa Dent from Woodside said the condition applied only to Mr MacDonald’s family and added: “As he has now left the area and sold the land the planning application should be revoked. The land should be returned to its original woodland state.”

Another neighbour from Woodside argued that the temporary permission was granted for a period of five years or until the family moved away – whichever happened sooner.

She said that the original decision said that when they moved from the site then it would be returned to its original state, with trees replanted, and Mr MacDonald should not have sold the land.

“Two years down the line we are having to dispute another Traveller family from inhabiting it, which was designated for industrial/commercial use only taking into account that the land has a tree protection order,” she added.

In February 2010 Mr MacDonald was prosecuted for clearing woodland at the site which was protected by the tree protection order.

Initially the council rejected the original planning application in 2010 because it was felt that there was no need for additional Traveller sites.

However Mr MacDonald appealed to the planning inspectorate which ruled that temporary planning permission should be granted.

Anne Taylor, from Talking Travellers, who has written in support of the new owner, Mr Devers, said that the family had settled into Longtown, made friends in the area and attended church in Carlisle.

She said that over the last 12 months Mr Devers had maintained the site and made a number of improvements including installing lighting and a CCTV system.

Members of the council’s development control committee are due to consider the plan at the Civic Centre on Friday from 10am.