Four-year planning row to expand traveller site 'to facilitate a gypsy lifestyle' in village near Northampton is refused
A planning row to expand a traveller site in a village near Northampton has been refused four years after proposals were first submitted.
Plans to expand a traveller site next to the A5 near Weedon have been refused by West Northamptonshire Council, after strong concerns were raised about road safety and unauthorised development.
The decision was issued on Tuesday 30 July, four years after the application was first submitted in July 2021.
Applicant Mr E Biddle asked for permission to keep six static caravans and mobile units on the site for residential use. Some of these homes were added after earlier permission was granted for just one traveller pitch in 2019, which allowed for a day room, one static caravan and one mobile unit.
Mr Biddle said the latest application was to “meet the recognised need for such facilities in the area and to facilitate a gypsy lifestyle.”
The site is currently home to seven mobile homes, one caravan, and a day room. Part of the site has been developed without planning permission and is under investigation, according to planning papers.
West Northants Council (WNC) said it accepted there was a need for more traveller accommodation, and that the proposal could be supported in principle. However, it said the lack of a safe vehicle entrance onto the A5 made the plan unsafe.
Council planning officers said: “The access for the site is onto the A5 trunk road and advice from National Highways is that insufficient progress has been made to agree a safe form of access on to the site.”
They added: “Whilst the benefits of meeting the needs of [the] travelling community should be afforded considerable weight, these do not outweigh the safety concerns identified by National Highways in respect of the users of the A5 trunk road because of the lack of an agreed safe vehicular access to serve the development.”
Weedon Parish Council objected to the plans. It said: “The existing permission was based on false information. The site is operating a business which is not covered by the existing or proposed development.
“The existing access does not meet the required standard of the highway authority and is a danger to users of the A5. There is already increased vehicular/pedestrian activity in the immediate locality as a result of staycations on the nearby canal.
“There are more than five living units on site and these do not look suitable. There are concerns about sewage disposal.
“No identified need for additional traveller accommodation [in] the area.
“If this were a scheme for residential units it would be refused for being outside the confines of the village. [We] fail to see why policies restricting development in the open countryside are not equally applied here.”
Dodford Parish Meeting also raised concerns: “The site lies in open countryside contrary to all relevant planning policies. Access to and from A5 poses a serious safety risk to users of the A5.”
A village resident also objected, writing: “This is a renowned dangerous stretch of the A5 where serious accidents, fatalities and numerous 'near misses' have occurred. The site inevitably increases traffic to all A5 road users and pedestrians. The planning system should work for everyone and exceptions not made for anyone.”