Wycombe council's concern over gypsy Green Belt call (From Bucks Free Press)

Wycombe council's concern over gypsy Green Belt call

11:00am Tuesday 8th September 2009 in

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COUNCIL bosses have branded “very concerning” Government plans to let gypsies live on protected Green Belt land.

Wycombe District Council is to officially oppose a call by regional planning chiefs that legal campsites could go on the Green Belt in “exceptional circumstances”.

The response states: “WDC is very concerned about the willingness to justify relaxation of nationally-important policy constraints which this statement appears to advocate.”

Future policy should make it clear that protected land principles are “not ‘optionals’ to be ignored at will, but are sacrosanct and inviolable unless there really are no other alternatives”.

Councils throughout England have been told to identify land where they would allow gypsies and travellers to set up a permanent campsite.

Councillors also hit out at the plan to distribute the sites throughout Buckinghamshire instead of where demand is greatest.

This could see gypsies, travellers and showpeople avoid these locations as they are not close to essential services, they heard..

Planning chief councillor Jean Teesdale said last night: “We are concerned if we go along this arbitrary distribution we run the risk of gypsies and travellers not wanting to go where we have put sites because it does not suit their needs.”

These needs could include the desire to be close to doctors and schools, said Cllr Teesdale, cabinet member for planning and sustainability.

In its official response to Government bosses the authority says: “The way it spreads allocations among districts without reference to evidence on the ground is not a sound, evidence-based approach.”

It says the official consultation admits that this approach “could lead to the potential that some pitches provided would not be occupied, reducing overall sustainability benefits”.

And it said the council had been given “no justification” for the proposed pitches for Wycombe district rising from 76 to 78.

The council also blasts calls for two pitches for travelling show people as a study showed “no need” for this.

The Government Offices for the South East has been putting together the final plan for the last three years.

Illegal sites have plagued rural communities in south Buckinghamshire for years.

There has been outrage this year after a site was set up without planning permission in Hemley Hill, Princes Risborough.