Public inquiry to be held over Gypsy site in Fordingbridge - Wiltshire

From the Salisbury Journal

A PUBLIC inquiry into whether two Gypsy brothers and their families should be allowed to live on agricultural land near Fordingbridge will be held on April 29.

The plan by Felix and Miles Connors attracted 300 letters of protest from local people who said they feared it would set a dangerous precedent, and may lead to dozens of caravans on the rural spot, off Marl Lane.

Planners agreed, and refused the plan. But the brothers appealed and now a planning inspector appointed by the Government will hear both sides at Fordingbridge Town Hall from 10am on April 29. The hearing is expected to last two days.

The brothers want to use the land as a Gypsy site for two mobile homes, create a new access and entrance gates and site an amenity block, a stable block, hardstanding and parking there.

But residents say the plan would create a hazard for dog walkers, children and horseriders who use the bridleways around the site, and that it would be an unattractive addition to a well-loved and well-used landscape.

Several commenters expressed the fear that approving the plan would lead to an influx of travelling families and become “another Dale Farm”.

The brothers, who own the greenfield land, have been living at the site with their families since May and are also appealing against an enforcement notice from the district council, to move off the land by December 26.

The Connors brothers say they want to put down roots, enabling their children to attend regular school and have access to NHS care.

However, the application sparked an unprecedented wave of objections from people claiming that more than the two caravans proposed would be parked on the site if the scheme was approved.

Copies of appeal documents are available for inspection at www.newforest.gov.uk/planning or at the district council’s Lyndhurst offices.