Ewloe residents ready for round two in Traveller camp battle - Flintshire

From the Leader

CONTROVERSIAL follow-up plans for a Travellers site will be considered at a public enquiry in two weeks’ time.

Hundreds of people objected when plans for five residential caravan pitches on Magazine Lane in Ewloe were first lodged in summer 2010.

Campaigners formed Ewloe Green Action Group to fight the application and landowner Martin Rooney’s application was rejected by Flintshire Council in 2011.

After a public inquiry upheld that decision, a second application for another five pitches was rejected in May last year.

Mr Rooney appealed against that decision in October and his plans will now be considered at hearings later this month.

The appeal hearings are scheduled to last three days and will take place at Flintshire County Hall starting on February 26.

As far back as 2010, anxious residents and traders argued that land earmarked for the pitches was in open countryside on designated green barrier land separating the villages of Northop Hall and Ewloe.

Campaigners also said they feared any development would increase traffic leading to the site and said access would be via the narrow single track Green Lane, which had traffic problems and poor visibility.

Public meetings were held and as many as 275 letters of objection were submitted to the council against the original plans.

With opposition from areas beyond Ewloe, including Hawarden, Buckley and Northop Hall, concerns were also cited about drainage and sewage issues.

After considering the second application last May, Flintshire’s planning committee rejected the plans on four grounds.

Members felt concerned traffic would cause “unacceptable living conditions for residents” in terms of both pollution and noise.

It was also felt the development would harm the openness of the green barrier and have “an adverse impact on the landscape”.

Safety concerns were also cited in that situating homes beneath an overhead electricity line would reduce the clearance distance and endanger the lives of construction workers.

Mr Rooney’s agent was not available for comment yesterday.