You have a choice of sites, gipsy is told

A gipsy's plea to create a permanent home on land in South Staffordshire was rubbished by council planners who said she had a choice about where else to live.

A planning inspector was hearing the appeal of Lisa Walker, aged 38, who was refused permission to live on land in Wombourne by South Staffordshire Council.

She has lived with her family in a caravan outside a house in Tipton for nine years. She uses the house for its water supply but says she cannot live in it, although a reason has not yet been given.

Paul Turner, planning consultant for the council, told the hearing that this weakens her case, adding: "Clearly there is a fallback. "She is not living on the roadside."

Today's opening session was adjourned twice because so many residents crowded in. The strength of opposition to the permanent gipsy pitch and utility building at Poolhouse Nurseries, in Pool House Road, Wombourne, was so great that the village's Civic Centre was not big enough, with people being turned away.

The inquiry also heard that the council's officers recommended the application for approval because there was no policy in place to cope with traveller demand in the district — but this is no longer the case.

The council has never granted permission for a gipsy site but in October it introduced a policy to grant pitches up to a limit of 74 to help stem the flow of sites being granted on appeal.

About 30 pitches have been approved on appeal since 2007, the inquiry heard, largely because the council has not been able to prove it is actively planning to make space for travellers.

Mr Turner said there is now a "clear and sustained effort" to address a "policy vacuum". He added: "There is a real danger that the target figures could be met or exceeded."

Matthew Green, representing Ms Walker, said: "This proposed site presents the lowest level of harm one could possibly get to."

The hearing into whether the permanent gipsy pitch should be granted was opened and postponed in October amid concerns people did not know about it.