Brighton Travellers site approved by planners - Sussex

From Brighton and Hove News

A permanent Travellers site on the edge of Brighton has been approved by planners.

Permission was granted by the South Downs National Park Authority Planning Committee at a meeting in Midhurst this morning (Thursday 13 February).

Several members of the Planning Committee expressed reservations about the proposal by Brighton and Hove City Council for the site which is inside the national park.

Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, the leader of the the council’s opposition Conservative group, also represents Patcham, the ward that includes the Horsdean site. He spoke against the proposal.

Councillor Theobald said that he had campaigned for the creation of the national park and the protection that it was supposed to provide for the countryside

He said that he was extremely disappointed that the new Travellers site had been approved, adding: “This goes against all that I fought for.”

National park authority chief executive Trevor Beattie said after the Travellers site was approved: “There is a clear need. There has been a long process.

“Brighton and Hove City Council put forward this site and it has been approved subject to rigorous conditions.”

Councillor Pete West, chairman of the council’s environment committee, said: “We are pleased that the national park planning authority has recognised the need for a permanent Traveller site in the city and has approved the planning application for the site at Horsdean.

“Once built, the new site will give greater stability for travelling families and strengthen links with the local community that already exist with the transit site.

“The proposals will also see the Traveller Liaison Team operating from a building on site, to ensure closer and better working with the community and reduce site management costs.

“Adding 12 new permanent pitches should also help to free up transit pitches and manage unauthorized encampments and their impact on parks and communities.”

see also the Argus - Permanent Traveller site in Horsdean gets planning permission

The BBC - South Downs National Park Traveller site approved