From the Cambridge News
A rundown Travellers’ site on the edge of Cambridge is set to be bought and refurbished by a council at a cost of £1.1 million.
The nine pitches at Grassy Corner in Fen Road, Chesterton, are wanted by South Cambridgeshire District Council for Travellers on its housing waiting list following the collapse of controversial plans to reopen the Mettle Hill site in Meldreth.
There are already more than 200 pitches north of the level crossing on Fen Road, and concerns have previously been raised that too great a burden was being put on the area.
But, while only a handful of plots at Grassy Corner are occupied at the moment, the existing planning permission already allows for nine.
Of the funding, £500,000 has already been pledged by the Government, and another £300,000 is hoped for, while the council would provide the rest - although it plans to recoup this in rent.
Cllr Mark Howell, the cabinet member for housing, said: “It is always difficult to find a deliverable site but we believe investment here would transform Grassy Corner for the benefit of everyone living nearby as well as people who could live there in the future.
“It is currently in very poor condition and the investment would mean it can continue to be a Gypsy and Traveller site into the future. Without investment, replacement pitches would be needed elsewhere in the district.”
Cllr Howell said the council had a legal duty to provide accommodation for Travellers and denied that the site’s owners were being rewarded for allowing the land to become derelict - explaining that the council was buying rundown houses around the district too.
One of the refurbished plots would be allocated to Cambridge City Council, meeting that authority’s need for Traveller sites in coming years.
Cllr Hazel Smith, who represents Milton, said a well-run site could improve the area for everyone.
She said: “I was anticipating there might have been some disquiet but, in fact, when you explain to people what the council is trying to do, people seemed to have confidence that it would be OK.
“Grassy Corner already has planning permission for nine plots so to put nine council pitches in will be no different.”
The deal will be discussed on September 12 by the council’s cabinet, which will also consider purchasing the existing sites at Whaddon and Blackwell, near Milton, from the county council.
The total outlay, including subsequent refurbishment at Whaddon and the purchase of Grassy Corner, is expected to be £2.7 million. Of that, £1.9 million is coming from the Government.
The council hopes the project proves less controversial than the proposed reopening of Mettle Hill, which was dropped after a backlash from residents concerned about the site’s history of crime and vandalism.
The purchase is set to be signed off by the full council on September 26.
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