Caravan site plans next to busy road spark objections

John Smith has applied to Stafford Borough Council for consent to live with his children and members of his extended family on land off London Road, Pasturefields, near Hixon.

The three Romany Gypsy households plan to site three mobile homes, three static caravans and three amenity blocks on part of a large field located between the A51 and the Trent and Mersey Canal.

A supporting statement submitted as part of the application said one household did not have a site of their own and were having to stay on someone else’s caravan site in the Stafford area.

Another person currently lived in "unsuitable bricks and mortar accommodation and wants to live on a caravan site in accordance with his gypsy traditions", according to the statement.

The statement added: "John Smith is outgrowing the site where he currently lives in Stafford and needs a site where he can live with other members of his extended family.

"They have purchased the application site to make a caravan site of their own, where they live together as an extended family group for mutual help and support.

"All three families are gypsies by ethnicity and travel for at least part of the year for an economic purpose.

"As one would expect, the amount of travelling they can do is restricted by the number of school-age children and infants, who need a settled base for access to healthcare and regular schooling.

"The proposed caravan site has been set well back from the Trent and Mersey Canal so as not to unduly impinge on views from the canal and towpath.

"New hedgerows and trees would be planted to contain the caravan site and provide additional screening."

Hixon Parish Council has objected to the application for a number of reasons however, including the site not being allocated for development in the Plan for Stafford Borough.

There were also concerns the site would be visually intrusive from both the road and the Trent and Mersey Canal Conservation Area "and would diminish the tourism potential and economic benefits".

Parish council chairman and borough councillor Brendan McKeown has called in the application for discussion by the borough authority’s planning committee.

And seven objections have been submitted by residents in response to the proposals.

One Pasturefields resident said: "The fields along Pasturefields are always full of wildlife and this is significantly out of keeping for two caravans to be kept on.

"Also the noise (will) have a massive impact on the wildlife and also all neighbours close by.

"There are likely to be many vehicles along with the caravans which would be unsightly.

"The land has always been as agricultural farmland and should remain that way as it backs on to historic salt marsh.

"This would also set precedence for further development, which cannot happen."

Another Pasturefields resident said: "I have major concerns about a traveller site being directly opposite my property, with noise, extra traffic, to name a few.

"There are no sewage, electric or water mains at all on that side of the A51 main road.

"The site is accessed off the main A51 which has a 50mph speed limit.

"To have caravans, vans, trucks and other such vehicles turning, would in time cause a fatal accident as the visibility from the field is limited.

"The historic salt marsh is adjacent to the proposed traveller site.

"This area is one of only two surviving inland salt marsh in the British Isles.

"This is an area of natural beauty and to have a residential site next to would be absurd.

"This piece of land must remain as agricultural farmland to keep the beauty of the local area."

But a Weston resident who supported the application said: "Comments have been posted with misinformation and scaremongering about the application site and owners".

The resident said: "They do not own the land adjoining the site, so safe to say they could not extend the site.

"The land itself is not in any special scientific or conservation area.

"There has already been at least three planning permissions granted on that side of the A51; the biggest of which is the marina, opposite the end of New Road, which would cause more traffic than three caravans.

"The entrance to the site is nearly a mile away from New Road so not really close proximity.

“The council has been looking for suitable land for several years with nothing forthcoming."