Travellers' appeal on order to leave Wolverhampton camp

Travellers have launched an official appeal against a decision ordering them to leave the camp they set up seven years ago on an industrial estate in Wolverhampton.

Eleven families live in caravans in the grounds of Bluebird Trading Estate in Bridge Street, Heath Town.

But Wolverhampton City Council refused to grant retrospective planning permission in January and ordered the group to leave.

Caravan park owner John McCarthy has now lodged an official appeal to the council and vowed he would take the fight to the highest level possible.

Agent John Gemmell, speaking on behalf of Mr McCarthy, said: "The application has been lodged and we're expecting it to take a long time to come through, maybe March next year.

"Mr McCarthy is determined to fight this decision all the way and will be take it to the European courts if he has to."

The travellers have called on the help of expert Joseph Jones, from the UK Gipsy Council. The bid for retrospective planning permission was refused on the grounds the layout and design of the site led to "unacceptable living conditions" and using it for homes affected the supply of employment land.

Concerns were also raised by officers about whether the land may be contaminated from its previous use as a scrapyard.

The travellers are now calling in land contamination and noise experts to see if they can strengthen their argument to stay put.

A battle over the site has been going on since 2002, when planning permission was first refused to use it for mobile homes.

Two further retrospective planning applications have been turned down, while a stop notice was issued in November, 2002, ordering chalet building work to stop.

Heath Town Labour councillor Milkinder Jaspal said he was backing the travellers' cause and said he had never received any complaints about the group. "Their camp has improved the look of the area and they have done it up really nice," he said.