Travellers site proposal coming back to the table
PLANS for a permanent traveller site in Ashbourne could be about to come back to the table, after the district council noticed the published bypass route options would not affect what was once an earmarked plot of land.
Derbyshire Dales District Councillors have agreed to reapply pressure on Derbyshire County Council to release land they own at Watery Lane, off Mayfield Road, for use by a family of travellers the district council has a responsibility to provide a home for.
The site was given planning permission for nine pitches several years ago, but the project had to be shelved shortly after the May 2017 election because the new Conservative administration refused to hand over the land for the controversial new use.
Converting the redundant plot, which sits between the town’s recycling centre and sewage works, and close to the allotments and cemetery, was fiercely opposed by locals – but the project was finally knocked on the head at the 11th hour because the county council said it could one day lie in the way of a proposed A515 bypass and bosses refused to give up the site.
But discussing the recently proposed bypass routes that were put forward as part of the official public consultation, the district councillors and the chief executive Paul Wilson remarked on the fact the routes no longer passed over Watery Lane, and it was hoped the discussion over its use could be back on the table.
Mr Wilson had said in a report ahead of Wednesday’s virtual environment committee meeting that Watery Lane becoming available for travellers again, could be a “consequential benefit”, but he conceded the opinion of Derbyshire County Council was likely to have remained unchanged.
In the time that has passed since Watery Lane, which was written into the Derbyshire Dales Local Plan, was taken off the table, the district council has poured huge resources into finding an alternative site.
Earlier this year the councillors agreed to pursue a plot of land in Knabhall Lane in Tansley for a potential site. But even ahead of planning permission being applied for, locals have mounted stiff opposition to the plan, along with some robust legal challenges.
Meanwhile the family of travellers, who have expressed a wish to stay in Ashbourne since declaring themselves homeless, are being moved from temporary site to temporary site – at great cost to the council.
Councillor Martin Burfoot, for Matlock St Giles, was among the councillors referring to the potential new opportunity to reopen the Watery Lane discussions.
He said: “I can’t understand why it’s assumed that Derbyshire County Council’s opinion regarding the availability of this site remains unchanged. And, if it does, can officers and senior members not approach the county council again and and say ‘why is this the case?’
“Because if the bypass route doesn’t impact on the proposed travellers’ site then I can’t understand for the life of me why they couldn’t enter into further discussions to possibly open up that piece of land as a potential travellers’ site again.”
Mr Wilson was asked to restart discussions with Derbyshire County Council to assess their position on the Watery Lane site.