Anger as plan for Cheslyn Hay gipsy site gets go-ahead

Parish council chairman Bob Denson has also sent a letter to bosses at South Staffordshire Council.

It comes after the district council approved proposals to extend the gipsy site at The Pony Paddock, in Hospital Lane, Cheslyn Hay last month.

Councillor Denson has written a letter to South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson expressing his concerns. He said today: "Although we've got nothing against gipsies, originally planning permission was given for family members who had nowhere to live.

"Now it seems it is just getting bigger and bigger and it's on green belt land so we are angered about that."

Mr Denson said members of the parish council were even more unhappy because the district council recently turned down plans to erect a new building at an allotment site off Pinfold Lane, in Cheslyn Hay, to allow disabled people and youngsters to use the land.

The Cheslyn Hay Allotments Association even managed to secure a grant of £2,500 from Staffordshire County Council's Community Wellbeing fund to develop the community building and facilities to support disabled gardeners on site.

Mr Denson added: "The district council turned down a development on allotments for disabled youngsters because it was on the green belt.

"It would have given them a chance to have a hands-on experience at the allotments. How were the gipsy plans approved and not the allotment plans?" Mr Denson said the parish council would be resubmitting the allotment plans on behalf of Cheslyn Hay Allotments Association in the near future.

He added: "The parish council is going to resurrect the plans on behalf of the allotments association.

"We are going to arrange a pre-planning meeting with the district council to discuss the scheme."

Planning bosses at South Staffordshire Council approved the controversial traveller plans at a meeting last month.

Mother-of-four Amy Rodgers lives on the site and now has permission to double its size, allowing a further eight pitches there.

At a heated South Staffordshire Council planning meeting, councillors expressed fears that the site would continue to grow, creating "a small village on the fringes of Cheslyn Hay".

Mrs Rodgers disputed these claims however, stating the site, which is built on green belt land, is purely for members of her close family.

And she said before she moved there that the land was blocked with rubbish and frequently a target for fly-tippers.

Cheslyn Hay councillor Mac Harris stormed out of the planning meeting in protest. South Staffordshire Council was unavailable to comment.