Moral question over expansion of gypsies' site
Plans by St Edmundsbury Borough Council to spend £25,000 towards an extension of a gypsy site in Depden are 'legally and morally questionable', it has been claimed.
Derek Redwood, borough councillor for nearby Wickhambrook, has questioned the borough council's investment of cash into the project, to extend the existing gypsy site at Kelly's Meadow to provide six additional pitches, which could house three caravans each.
The council has pledged to spend 15,000 on an independent planning mediation service and 10,000 on a planning consultant to discuss the proposal, which has already sparked concern among nearby residents.
Cllr Redwood said: "This is nonsense.
"I find it questionable both legally and morally that public money should be used to assist a private planning application.
"It seems strange the council should spend 25,000 to help push it through."
Currently owned privately by the Goodey family with one pitch, the site could be extended to provide accommodation for up to 21 caravans, if plans are approved by the council's development control committee later this year.
If successful, the scheme could help to fill the quota of 20 extra pitches needed in St Edmundsbury, under final guidelines issued under the East of England Regional Spatial Strategy last month.
Central Government has already pledged to pay 737,000 to cover the full cost of the development.
Cllr Redhead added: "I am also concerned almost three quarters of a million pounds should be put into a single, family project.
"No other family in the borough would get that amount of money."
A heated public meeting was held when the scheme was first suggested last October, when around 300 residents raised fears house prices could fall and the village school could be overcrowded if the bid was approved.
Colin Pollington, chairman of a steering committee set up to fight the plans, said: "The borough council are spending money like water.
"We don't even consider the mediation makes a difference because it is not even going to come to a conclusion."
A spokeswoman for the borough council said: "We wanted to make sure that everyone who has an interest in the potential extension of the family site at Kelly's Meadow, Depden, had their views heard so they could all be taken into account when a planning application is submitted.
"Cabinet decided that the fairest way to do this was through independent planning mediation, which we have funded. And, as the strategic housing authority with responsibility to deliver homes for gypsies and travellers, we are supporting the planning application submission."
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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