Has a permanent site for Travellers finally been found?
GYPSY LIAISON GROUP URGES COUNCIL TO APPROVE LAND NEAR CROMFORD WHILE LOCALS OBJECT
A GYPSY liaison group that has been supporting a family of Travellers that wants to settle near Ashbourne has urged Derbyshire Dales District Council to accept plans for a permanent site near Cromford.
The authority has received an application to set up eight permanent Traveller plots on land known as the Woodyard, in Homesford, next to the A6, a few miles from Cromford.
Previous plans for permanent Traveller plots on the site have been rejected by the council and dismissed by a government planning inspector, but temporary plots have been approved.
The application has been submitted by a Mr and Mrs Hodgkinson and has received the support of the Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group.
A spokesperson for the group has warned the council that it is “in danger of missing the boat” if it does not promptly approve the site.
This is because the council has continually failed in its legal obligation to accommodate two homeless Traveller families – one of which has been staying on the Matlock train station car park for months.
Recently a Traveller family applied through the liaison group to stay on a burial ground in Doveridge while they recovered from a scheduled operation.
The site was proposed by Derbyshire Dales District Council as the most suitable plot of land in its ownership, in the absence of any permanent sites being available, but Ashbourne’s Fishpond Meadow overspill car park was mooted as an alternative.
The Doveridge bid was dropped because the scheduled operation was cancelled, however, district council officers have recommended that the site at Homesford is rejected at a planning meeting due to take place last night, shortly after the News Telegraph went to press.
It also follows plans recently being dropped for a permanent traveller site in Knabhall Lane, near Tansley, after 18 months of costly taxpayerfunded investigations. Councillors have also rejected plans to adopt numerous temporary traveller sites, leaving the number at zero.
A spokesperson for the liaison group wrote: “In the absence of any site brought forward by Derbyshire Dales District Council, Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group supports this application.
“We first identified this land some years ago and did obtain a three-year permission, however there were no funds to develop it.
“I have noted the comments in relation to heritage and I believe, with a sympathetic planning scheme, a site can be situated here.
“I think it would be beneficial if DDDC could actually purchase this land so that the families presently residing on unofficial sites will finally have facilities that most people take for granted – and before we are into another winter.
“It is with the utmost urgency that this site is developed and at the moment there is money available from central Government to local authorities. DDDC is in danger of missing the boat.”
In March, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities launched a £10 million fund to support local councils in creating new temporary and permanent traveller sites.
Council officers recently said this only relates to “shovel-ready” plans and that the authority does not have one at such an advanced stage.
A statement submitted with the plans for the Woodyard says: “There has been and is a need to provide pitches for Travellers in the Dales.
“Over a period of 15 years not a single pitch has been provided. Previously the council has put forward sites in Homesford, Rowsley, Ashbourne, Wirksworth and Clifton. None have completed.”
Council officers detail in a report that the district must provide eight Traveller pitches by 2025 and a further five pitches up to 2040.
“It says this is in addition to four pitches which were approved at appeal – following a rejection from the council – on land off Grove Lane, Somersal Herbert, in October last year.”
Officers write that the Woodyard application does not include a condition which will ensure the eight pitches remain available to travellers permanently or that they will be “effectively managed to ensure that needs are met going forward”.
They say the applicant has no obligation to provide for Traveller families, unlike the council.
Regardless of the decision of this plot, the council itself will remain without any temporary or permanent sites on which to accommodate two Traveller families who have registered as homeless, continuing its failed legal obligation.
A support letter submitted by a former planning consultant for the National
Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups says: “It is a matter of great concern that the Derbyshire Dales council has failed to meet its obligation to make appropriate provision to meet the assessed need for Traveller sites in the district.
“The attempt to dispose of the problem by pursuing an entirely inappropriate site in a remote area at Knabhall Lane only served to add to the unacceptable delay in addressing the problem.
“The site at the Woodyard offers the opportunity to address the issue of Traveller provision without further delay.
“The site is in general accord with Local Plan policy relative to Traveller provision, is well located to meet the need and has previously been identified by the council as a preferred location.”
Temporary approval for three Traveller pitches was granted in 2014, however it was not developed due to funding issues. Plans for seven permanent pitches were last rejected in 2017.
A total of 25 objection letters have been submitted by residents opposing the plans, largely based on visual impact and the issues posed by the traffic and road safety hazards from the neighbouring A6.
Objectors wrote: “Heading through such a beautiful part of Derbyshire and seeing a site of eight caravans would be incredibly unsightly.
“The Woodyard site is within the UNESCO World Heritage Site and I believe this development would jeopardise this status. The A6 is a fast-moving rural road. It has been considered in the past too dangerous to allow increased urbanisation.
“As we are all aware, the A6 to Matlock Bath is the county’s own ‘Highway To Hell.’ Wherever the entrance is positioned it is still in the maximum speed limit zone, it would be like putting a T junction on Brands Hatch race track for slow-moving vehicles to use.
“It would create conditions for the perfect storm of accidents to happen.
“The claim that it is clean unworked land is incorrect, as it is a historical landfill site containing goodness knows what.
“The granting of planning consent for an eight-pitch site – two caravans per pitch- would potentially increase the population of Homesford by around 50 persons, completely overwhelming the existing population numbers which have stayed stable for several years. The effect of this would be to destroy the small rural hamlet character of Homesford.”
The Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site coordinator wrote in response to the scheme: “The introduction of eight caravan pitches and their occupation by up to as many caravans, complete with associated paraphernalia thereof, is likely to unacceptably urbanise the setting of this section of the A6, an historic turnpike road.”
A planning inspector, approving the four-pitch permanent traveller site in Somersal Herbert, wrote that the need for traveller sites was given “significant weight” which outweighed the negatives – overturning the council’s rejection.
However, on the Homesford plans, council officers appear to have only given “significant” weight to the protection of the world heritage site and the unsustainability of the location, and not the need for Traveller sites.
Council officers, recommending refusal, wrote: “It is recognised that there is a clear need for traveller sites in the district and that the council does not have a five year supply of sites at this time.
“The provision of eight pitches therefore weighs in favour of the development. However, it remains that the unsustainable location of the site and harm to the character and appearance of the countryside and this part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site weighs significantly against the development.”
It is with the utmost urgency that this site is developed. DDDC is in danger of missing the boat. Liaison group