Travellers in plan appeal

development of pitches for four families of travellers. Each would have two caravans – one mobile and the other touring – and there would be another static caravan too, making nine in total. Cars would also be parked on the site.

The retrospective application was submitted to Kirklees Council by Warwickshire-based development consultant Philip Brown, who said previously: “They felt they had to get on with it. In their view they did not have any choice.

“When you are in a position of having appropriate accommodation you have that choice, but if that’s not the case then you act in the best way you can for your family and they felt they had to move, so it was a case of doing things as quickly as possible.

“They have moved from housing which was causing them a lot of problems.

“This housing is not what they are used to and it does have an effect on travellers’ mental health. I know this is difficult for people who live in houses to understand but travellers do have an aversion to living in bricks and mortar.”

When Kirklees rejected the application it stated: “The applicant has failed to demonstrate very special circumstances exist to clearly outweigh the harm to the green belt, the openness of the green belt and visual amenity from the formation of the bund and hard standing and the change of use to a caravan site for four gypsy households.

“The proposal is considered to be in an unsustainable location due to remote access to public transport, local amenities and services.”