Gypsy site planning application for Crewe is delayed

CAMPAIGNERS fighting against a new Gypsy site in their community have been given a glimmer of hope that the scheme may yet be rejected.

Cheshire East Council has agreed it will not submit a planning application for the proposed site on Parkers Road, Coppenhall, until it has consulted more with local people.

The breakthrough came in a letter to Crewe and Nantwich MP Edward Timpson, who has championed the cause on behalf of constituents.

In a dramatic turn of events, the council’s strategic director John Nicholson confirmed they would be ‘actively pursuing the creation of a transit site in the north of the borough’.

Referring to the Crewe site Mr Nicholson told Mr Timpson: “We believe that a properly run site will benefit the occupiers and neighbours of the site alike. In particular, we hope it will forestall unauthorised developments on unmanaged and unsuitable sites.”

He added: “However, we do recognise the very great concern that the proposal at Parkers Road has provoked in the local area. Consequently we will be preparing an information pack for those living near the site and improving the information and documentation on our website.

“We would like to take the chance to explain in more detail why we think a Gypsy and Traveller site is required and why the land at Parkers Road will be a good location for it.

“We won’t submit a planning application until we’ve taken steps to build better understanding on the issue with the local community.”

Mr Timpson told the Chronicle: “I’m pleased my support and lobbying has contributed to Cheshire East Council agreeing to actively revisit other sites previously disregarded, and explore new sites within the Cheshire East area. It’s great news that they won’t submit a planning application for Parkers Road pending further consultations.”

WALTHAM ABBEY: Anger at failure to evict illegal Gyspy encampment

PEOPLE are demanding answers after the district council failed to move on a group of Gypsies who have set up home in Waltham Abbey.

Two weeks ago the group, with 10 vehicles, set up camp on land in Old Shire Lane, owned by Epping Forest District Council.

Residents are angry that the council did not exercise its powers to impose a Section 61 notice, which would have forced the group to move on immediately.

The district council has now issued an alternative eviction notice on the Travellers, but this will have to be heard in court, and it could be weeks before the notice is enforced.

Residents now fear that Travellers who were evicted from the Dale Farm site near Basildon, and are seeking a place to settle, may now see Waltham Abbey as a soft touch and say the town could be hit by a series of illegal encampments.

Sue Calvert, chairwoman of the Waltham Abbey Residents’ Association, said: “The council have made Waltham Abbey vulnerable by not acting promptly. I know that landowners are worried and have had to spend a lot of money securing their property [against land invasions]. “I have asked the police and council why, in view of the vulnerability of the area to illegal camps, a Section 61 was not issued and have not had a satisfactory answer from police or councillors yet."

Community forum meeting to discuss Travellers site - Winsford

A COMMUNITY forum meeting will be held next week to discuss the proposed plans for a Gypsy and Traveller site in Winsford.

Cheshire West and Chester Council has put forward its recommendation for a permanent Gypsy and Traveller site on land off Barlow’s Drive, near Woodford Park Industrial Estate.

The meeting is open to everyone and will be held at the Cheshire West and Chester Council Chamber, in Wyvern House, on Wednesday, December 14, from 7pm.

Gypsies in bid to stay - Gloucestireshire

GYPSIES are seeking permission to keep their caravan at Brookthorpe for another three years.

The retrospective application for the married couple to stay living in a field off Naas Lane will come before Stroud District Council for a decision on December 13.

Brookthorpe Parish Council has objected because the caravan is not essential for agricultural or forestry purposes.

But council officials have reported to the authority's development control committee that a key consideration had to be the need for additional gypsy accommodation.

In total, an extra 20 residential gypsy pitches were currently needed in the district but to date only one had been permitted, the report has made clear.

The application for the caravan should therefore be allowed, the officers wrote, in order to meet the proven need.

Site review after noise report exposed - Bedfordshire

A council that claimed a Travellers site was ‘too noisy’ for Gypsies ignored its own commissioned report, which gave the green light for development.

Now bosses at Bedford Borough Council will conduct a second independent review - expected to costs thousands - meaning a proposed traveller site at Meadow Lane, Cardington could be back on the cards.

In September, BoS reported that plans to build a site at Meadow Lane in Bedford were scuppered because assessments found that sound levels weren’t appropriate for caravans. At the time deputy mayor, Charles Royden, pointed the finger at Government regulations and red tape for the settlement not being given the go-ahead. Mayor Dave Hodgson even wrote to Secretary of State Eric Pickles on the matter.

But a document handed to BoS shows an assessment carried out by Spectrum Acoustic Consultants - that cost the council £6,300 - found that noise was ‘not a sufficient’ enough reason to refuse planning permission.

It said: ‘The excess of noise inside caravans at night in comparison to guideline levels, as well as in the external play area during the day is not, of itself, sufficient to form a sole valid reason for refusal of planning permission.’ The survey also found that the installation of screens to combat noise could have been installed.
However, a survey from council officers conflicted with Spectrum’s findings.

It said: ‘The primary conclusion of the studies is that, based on the assessments undertaken, if a planning application were to be made for a Gypsy and Traveller site at that location then the noise and odour issues mean it would be inappropriate to grant permission.

This effectively rules the site out as a potential allocation and there is now a need to consider alternative proposals.’ The report also found that over a ten-day review of the site for smells, on four occasions there were reports of odours. But there is debate whether odour constitutes a reason for rejecting a planning application.

In 2009 the authority was unsuccessful in securing £1.7m in funding for permanent pitches at Meadow Lane.

Councillor for Harrold ward, Alison Field-Foster, said: “Having read the statements of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor in the BoS I was shocked to discover that the Borough’s acoustic consultant did not find noise was an issue at Meadow Lane. Given that odour is not a material planning consideration and noise is clearly not an issue there is no reason a planning application cannot be submitted now for permanent Gypsy and Traveller accommodation at this site.

“My suspicion is that the Borough does not want to spend money on developing Meadow Lane and that they want to push the problem out to the rural areas where Gypsies are buying up small plots of land and developing private sites which don’t cost the Borough a penny. There’s no reason that an application for planning permission cannot be submitted now for Meadow Lane as permanent Gypsy and Traveller accommodation.”

Bedford Borough Council refused to give a reason why it ignored the Spectrum report but a spokesman said: “The report was commissioned because the council has proposed to develop a permanent Gypsy and Traveller site at Meadow Lane in order to help alleviate the problem of unlawful encampments and meet assessed need. The council is already pressing ahead with developments at Meadow Lane to allow it to be used for a Travellers site as part of the solution to deal with unlawful encampments. The site will be open and available for travellers in March.”

Inquiry rules over enforcement action on Wormley Traveller site - Broxbourne

A BID to remove unauthorised developments at a Gypsy and Traveller site in Wormley has been overthrown after a public inquiry.

Broxbourne Council’s planning and licensing committee authorised enforcement action on two plots in Wharf Road, but the decision went to appeal and was the subject of a public inquiry in September.
Now the inquiry has ruled that both appeals should be allowed and temporary planning permission for three years has been granted.

The planning inspector informed the council that a lack of alternative Gypsy and Traveller sites as well as the absence future plans in the local development framework was cause for concern.

Other reasons for overturning the council’s decision was because the area was at risk of flooding and both Traveller families have children who attend local schools. 

As a result, Broxbourne Council is investigating the feasibility of providing an alternative Gypsy and Traveller site in the local development framework.

Backing for Travellers' site - Essex

TRAVELLERS should be allowed to have three pitches in Chappel, according to council planners.

Officers say Colchester Council’s planning committee should approve an application for the pitches for six caravans, utility sheds, fencing and shrubs, in Vernons Road.

Essex County Council says it has no concerns now because the number of proposed pitches has been reduced from a previous application.

But Chappel Parish Council said villagers had raised concerns over the plans. More than 60 letters of objection have been lodged, raising concerns including over light pollution, lack of water, the fact there is potentially no limit on the number of caravans and a lack of waste facilities.

Objectors are also concerned the site could be a magnet for families leaving the recently-vacated Dale Farm travellers’ site near Basildon.

Work has already begun to put up fencing around the site and the proposed plots have been marked out.
The plans have been resubmitted to Colchester Council after an application for six pitches was rejected.

The application will be decided at the planning meeting at Colchester town hall next Thursday at 6pm.

Fists of Fury - Gypsy and Traveller boxing on 5live

In this 5 Live Sport special, Eleanor Oldroyd is joined by Steve Bunce and 5live's Boxing Commentator Mike Costello, as they look at the rich tradition of pugilism in the Traveller, Roma and Gypsy communities in the UK.

Guests included English Traveller and former Olympic boxer Billy Joe Saunders, Romany journalist Jake Bowers and the most high profile traveller boxer at the moment Tyson Fury. Fists of Fury examined why so few Gypsy and Traveller boxers go on to reach the highest levels.

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/5live/5lspecials/5lspecials_20111201-2206a.mp3

Extra Day for Gypsy and Traveller Site Consultation - North Dorset

An additional public event has been organised by North Dorset District Council for the proposed Gypsy and Traveller sites consultation. 

The exhibition will take place on Monday 12 December from 4.00pm-8.00pm in The Bow Room in The Exchange, Sturminster Newton and will give more people the opportunity to comment on the proposals.

All Dorset councils are working together to produce a Development Plan Document dealing with the provision of sites for Gypsies and Travellers.  Once adopted, the document will allocate permanent and transit sites to meet Dorset’s needs for the next 15 years.

Councillor Deborah Croney, Portfolio Holder for Economy at the council, said: “There has already been a great deal of interest in the consultation and I hope that this continues.  The more comments we have the better the council can assess the potential of each site.”
The first exhibition event took place in The Exchange in Sturminster on 21 November and attracted a large number of people.  Remaining exhibitions will be held at:

Gillingham – 8 December 10am-12.30pm, The Jubilee Room, Gillingham Town Hall, School Road, Gillingham

Shaftesbury - 8 December 2pm-7pm, The Guildhall, The Town Hall, Shaftesbury
The consultation runs until 10 February 2012 to give people plenty of time to consider the issues and then respond.

Over the last year consultants, Baker Associates, have been working with Dorset councils to identify potentially suitable locations and have sifted these to provide a number of options for consideration by each council.

Decision due on River Lane Travellers' site - Surrey

HOUSEHOLDERS are angry at the council's "short-sighted" handling of the unauthorised Gypsy site in River Lane, Leatherhead.

On Wednesday, councillors will decide whether the 11.6-acre green belt site, owned by Gypsies who set up home there in 2003 in breach of planning rules, should be granted planning permission.

After an inquiry in 2007, a planning inspector granted temporary permission in order to give Mole Valley District Council time to find alternative sites. But the council did not find any suitable sites, so the Gypsies were allowed to submit a permanent planning application in January this year.

But River Lane homeowner Sue Woods, 54, is angry at the council for restricting the terms of its search, and ignoring sites in Ockley and Hookwood that were proposed as Gypsy sites by their owners.

 "The key issue is that it's the council we are so disappointed with," she said. "The point is the inspector didn't say only look in north Mole Valley, he didn't say they have to have a pitch that size, and didn't say they (the Gypsies) couldn't move. Councillors are very short-sighted if they think this will solve the problem."

Mrs Woods' husband Richard criticised the council for taking too long, especially as residents gathered more than 700 signatures supporting their cause. He said: "The council has known they have had temporary planning permission for four years and they didn't look at any land to offer as an alternative for three-and-a-half of those years.Then, what a surprise, they tell us they can't find anything."

But Gypsies living on the site told the Advertiser they are "living on a knife edge" because they have nowhere else to go.

Susan King said: "How can people possibly say the council has been short-sighted when they have taken four years to come up with a decision? People have to realise that, whilst there is a lot of affordable housing in Mole Valley, there aren't enough Gypsy sites. That is a fact in my view. It's become a nightmare and we are living on a knife's edge at the moment. We think of this as our home, the kids are settled in schools and have friends, but people just want us gone."