Village ‘prepared for Gypsy site legal fight’ - Bedfordshire

From Luton Today

Angry Barton residents say they are prepared to take legal action to prevent a new Gypsy and Traveller site in the village.

At a meeting on Thursday (April 18), Central Bedfordshire Council gave the green light for its new Gypsy and Traveller plan to proceed to the consultation stage.

Villagers wearing ‘Save Our Green Belt’ T-shirts packed out the public gallery at the meeting, where 37 councillors voted in favour of the plan. Eleven voted against and there were five abstentions.

Councillor Nigel Young, in charge of the plan, said proceeding to public consultation did not mean the council had approved any of the sites.

“We really do understand that this has provoked strong reactions and the ‘shortlist’ of sites has certainly caused some debate.

“The support by council doesn’t amount to a decision on any of the sites – it simply means that it supports the publication of the full plan and ‘shortlist’ of sites for public consultation and submission to the Secretary of State.

“There is still a long way to go with this process. Any submissions made as part of the upcoming consultation will be provided to the Secretary of State. He will then appoint an independent planning inspector to examine the plan and process.

“There will then be a public examination in early 2014 after which the inspector will make his final ruling – either to support the plan or ask the council to look again.

“We would encourage people to give us their views when the consultation opens and we will let people know the dates for this as soon as we can.”

Richard Beechener, who lives close to the proposed Faldo Road site in Barton, said the Barton Residents’ Action Group was already seeking legal opinion from barristers.

“We were heartened by the councillors who spoke against the proposals. Several were uncomfortable that the process wasn’t as transparent as it should have been. The merits of each site were not openly discussed,” he said.

“The biggest thing is that the council has not done this in conjunction with rural communities.

“It is going to be very difficult for a village to embrace a site that has been imposed upon it.”