Council to rule on changes to travellers' site on the green belt

Nov 19 2008 Staines News

Hardstandings, cess pits, fencing and the gravel driveway at a Virginia Water caravan site will have to be removed if Runnymede Council refuses retrospective planning permission.

A group of travellers say they were fed up with waiting for the authority to find somewhere to permanently locate them so they decided to develop Green Belt land that they own, off Lyne Road, by building permanent hardstandings and cess pits for 12 caravans.

A gravel driveway was dug and fencing put up to segregate the plots on the former landfill site, known as Pondover Landfill, before an application was submitted to the council for the work.

But the proposal is due to go before the planning committee tonight (Wednesday) and officers recommend the scheme is rejected and the changes are removed.

Travellers first appeared on the site in 1997 and have been there on and off since. However, on arriving at the site on June 14, this year, they began work laying hardcore over the land before submitting a planning application two days later.

Eleven letters of objection were received from neighbours, citing various reasons, including the development was inappropriate on Green Belt land and it would lead to increased road volumes and increased risk of accidents on the narrow country lane.

A resident living near to the site, who did not wish to be named, said he felt that if the committee did refuse the application, most nearby residents would see it as a positive outcome.

He said: "Personally, I would have objected to any development up there. There is obviously a lot of work gone into the site and I think they would be very reluctant to take it apart and would almost certainly lodge an appeal.

"So if it is refused, I don't think that will be the end of the matter." .