Council seeks more sites for gipsies and travelling showmen

Members of the Executive board met on November 2 to discuss proposals to provide six sets of plots for gipsies, travellers and travelling showpeople in Winsford, Ellesmere Port, Chester, Saughall and Neston.

They agreed not to submit planning applications for a site at Oakwood Farm, in Saughall, after survey work identified several species of bat and a second site at Long Acres Road, in Neston, was rejected after it was discovered a purchaser was in negotiations about the site.

This means that council officers will now be exploring other potential sites in the borough, which could include those in Northwich and Winsford.

Charlie Seward, director of regeneration and culture, said: “Securing provision of permanent accommodation to meet the needs identified in the Gipsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment will provide a robust basis for addressing unauthorised development and for determining planning applications across the borough.”

At the meeting, executive members agreed to seek planning permission for 20 permanent pitches and a warden’s office at the Blakeden Lane site, in Winsford, and hope to submit full proposals for a 10-plot site at the town’s Road One industrial estate after its location and layout have been finalised.

Clr Herbert Manley, executive member for prosperity, said: “We have said from the outset that moving to planning permission was only a stage in the process that would lead to full officer consideration of each site and comprehensive public consultation.

“All the many points made by members of the public would have been considered in full but circumstances surrounding the Neston and Oakwood Farm sites suggest that it would be inappropriate to progress further on either.

“However it is vital that we continue to address the ‘loophole’ in planning law by moving forward with other sites and also continuing our search for a suitable transit base.”