Report calls for 33 new Travellers’ sites across Selby - Yorkshire

From the Press

NEW research has shown 33 more pitches for Travellers will be needed across the Selby district over the next 15 years.

Studies carried out on Selby District Council’s behalf – the first fresh assessment in five years – said 19 of the pitches will be required within five years, but has also said there is no need to find more space for travelling fairground workers in the area.

The Travellers Needs Assessment, produced by Opinion Research Services, will be discussed by the council’s executive this week as a decision over controversial plans for a 15-pitch Travellers’ site at Burn Airfield looms and its Local Plan development blueprint is compiled.

Several temporary sites have been approved in recent years while the authority looks at how it can meet its responsibilities to provide accommodation for Travellers, with a report by policy officer Andrew McMillan saying the district currently had a backlog of pitches.

It also said the Burn scheme, which has drawn opposition from local residents after plans were resubmitted over the summer following the withdrawal of earlier proposals, would “contribute to the need” to provide Travellers pitches and allow the council to crack down on unauthorised sites. The needs assessment said there was now “no available space” at the district’s authorised sites.

In its findings, Opinion Research Services said it was “difficult to predict” how many travelling families might move to Selby from elsewhere, but a “small transit site” could be created to provide a base for those visiting or passing through the area. While not listing potential specific sites, the assessment marked out “broad locations” as a guide to where pitches could be provided, saying they should be close to local services but should not be in conservation or flood risk areas, or in the Green Belt “except in very special circumstances”.

The “broad” areas where the assessment suggested specific sites should be considered include land within a mile of Selby, Sherburn-in-Elmet, Tadcaster, Brayton, Brotherton, Byram, Carlton and North Duffield, while transit sites should be next to the A1, A19, A63, A64 or M62.