Plans to turn field into residential site for Romany Gipsy family set to be approved

A previous application to station residential caravans on the land at Radmore Lane, Gnosall, was refused permission in May 2012 by Stafford Borough Council.

A new application was put forward last year seeking permission for up to two mobile homes and four touring caravans at the site. as well as construction of a dayroom. And the latest plans have been recommended for approval by council officers ahead of a planning committee meeting on Wednesday.

A supporting statement submitted as part of the application said: “The applicant and her family are Romany Gipsies, who have a cultural need for appropriate accommodation in the form of a private family traveller site. At present, with the younger generation growing into adulthood and starting to form families of their own, there is no accommodation available that is sufficient to meet the family’s needs.

“Of the eight intended residents of the site, only one has ever lived in bricks and mortar accommodation. All family members have led or currently lead a nomadic habit of life and intend to continue to do so in the future.

“The eldest daughter of the applicant and her husband are currently roadside homeless with their young baby. Others are experiencing overcrowding on their existing pitch.

“As evidenced by the experience of Stafford Borough Council, identifying land that is suitable and available to develop Gypsy Sites is extremely difficult. For individual families, access to mortgages where no right to develop exists is very rare, and people face very significant difficulties with affording appropriate sites.

“In this case, the application site has been in the ownership of the applicant for around 10 years and was a gift from her father. At the time of the previous application for planning permission, the personal circumstances of the applicant were not provided to decision makers in the first instance, and the considerable costs of pursuing an appeal made this impossible.

“Access to the site is via an existing access road along the western boundary of the site, which adjoins Radmore Lane. The applicants cleared a large quantity of fly-tipped rubbish from this track shortly after buying the land and have kept it clear ever since.”

But the plans have not been welcomed locally. Stafford Borough Council has received 392 objections alongside six supporting letters.

Objectors have said the land is outside the residential development boundary and there is no need for the site identified in the local or neighbourhood plan. They believe previously-developed land or locations closer to towns and services would be more suitable.

A Radmore Lane resident said: “This is clearly not a brownfield site and it is current Government policy to restrict development in such remote placements which are not close to essential services, particularly given the lack of pedestrian access to the village. Pedestrians at this site needing to traverse to core village amenities will be required to walk along significant stretches of unlit roads with no metalled pavement or walkway, some of which are 60mph speed limits, thus putting such persons at a blatant and unacceptable risk to personal safety.”

A Tulip Walk resident said: “I object to this application again due to the fact that it has doubled in size since the previous application. This will be a massive threat to the already threatened wildlife, both flora and fauna, in the countryside.

“It would be much better to build on (a) brownfield site near to a main town where the infrastructure is much better equipped for such a site. Also the impact on the amount of traffic coming through our already congested village will create problems – town roads are much more geared up for extra traffic load.”

Gnosall Parish Council and the area’s MP have also objected. But supporters said large tractors already used the roads, one family would have limited impact on the environment, light and noise and an addition to Gnosall’s diversity was to be welcomed.

Councillor Mike Smith has called in the application for consideration by the planning committee on Wednesday on the grounds “the application does not demonstrate local need to develop the site in open countryside and that it could not be reasonably be provided on a more appropriate site such as previously developed land”. He added: “There are highways issues in respect of visibility.”