Opposition growing against Tytherington Road Travellers' site plans - Gloucestershire

From the Gazette

OPPOSITION is growing against plans for a Travellers' site in Thornbury with a national firm joining scores of residents and two councils in their campaign to have them thrown out for good.

Hanson Aggregates, the owner of the quarry by Tytherington Road nursery, which the 25 members of the Fry family are hoping to turn into eight gypsy caravan pitches, has formally rejected the proposal.

The company, which mothballed the quarry last year, said allowing the Frys' 13 children to live next to the industrial site would be extremely unsafe.

John Bown, of Hanson Aggregates, said: "Although the quarry is currently non-operational due to economic conditions, the site contains a significant mineral reserve, which has an extant planning permission.

"There are currently no proposals to restart quarrying activities but the site remains an active industrial site."

He added the danger would increase once the quarry resumed activity.

"It is likely that the families at the site will include children and although the site has good security, it is possible that an adventurous child could break into the site with obvious safety concerns associated with the quarry.

"Consequently the company is of the opinion that the proposal is an unsuitable location."

These concerns were also listed by Thornbury Town Council last month as one of its reasons for refusing the plans for six caravan pitches and two transit pitches, six day rooms, two toilet blocks and a horticultural shed.

The council also cited the drop in market value of nearby properties and the fact that the four-acre site was outside the town's settlement boundary.

Tytherington Parish Council also refused to back the plans last week, arguing that the mobile homes would be out character with the surrounding properties and expressed concerns over drainage.

These fears were voiced by nearby residents in the 65 letters of opposition sent to South Gloucestershire Council since the plans were submitted to the local authority for approval last month.

One family, even claimed they had already born the brunt of the plans before they had even been set in motion, when buyers withdrew their offer their home on the edge of Tytherington Road nursery four days after the proposal was put forward.

Sally Woodbury, the agent to the Fry family, however told the Gazette when the application was lodged that safety would not be an issue for the children living on the site any more than for those already living near the quarry.

She also referred to a study commissioned by Parliament which found no link between the creation of Travellers' sites and a drop in property value.

South Gloucestershire Council's development west committee will inspect the Tytherington Road nursery site tomorrow, Friday, at 10.30am.