TAXPAYERS’ money could be used to re-home gypsies who illegally moved onto land near Princes Risborough.

Wycombe District Council has announced eight sites the gypsies could move to – and bosses say they could use laws forcing their sale if necessary.

They hope that by naming locations they stand to win a planning battle with the gypsies, who moved to Hemley Hill over the Easter bank holiday. A study to find the sites cost £17,000.

The cash-strapped authority would have had to find sites anyway as new laws demand councils identify land for gypsies and travellers, mooted at 15 for Wycombe. It is hoped this will stop illegal sites.

Head of planning Jerry Unsworth said: “The council has ultimately power to compulsory purchase. We don’t start off with that. We are in a delicate negotiating period.”

The sites, which will be consulted on, are: • The Willows, North Lee Lane, Bishopstone (1-5 pitches).

• Dry Banks, opposite Kiln Farm, Oxford Road, Stokenchurch (6-12 pitches and up to 2 traveller plots).

• Land adjoining Pettigrove, Lower Icknield Way, Longwick (up to 2 traveller plots).

• Park Mill Farm, Princes Risborough (1-12 pitches).

• Former agricultural research establishment, Bishopstone (1-12 pitches).

• Abbey Barn North, High Wycombe (1-5 pitches).

• Storage site, Oxford Road, Stokenchurch (1-5 pitches).

• Ashwells, Tylers Green, High Wycombe (1-12 pitches).

Councillor Chris Watson, responsible for housing, said: “Society has decided that travellers be allocated a certain amount of land and we have to respond to that.”

He said: “Wherever you choose the sites there is going to be concerns. We have tried to get them down to a small as sites as possible.”

The council’s role is to use its planning powers to allow land to be used for a gypsy or traveller site – but with the consent of the land owner. Without it, a CPO could be used.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The laws and regulations in this area have become utterly out of balance.

“It sends an awful message that if you don’t respect the law, the only result is that the council will start commissioning studies and even carrying out compulsory land purchases to accommodate you.

“This isn’t just the council’s fault, though - they have been put in an almost impossible situation by unjust laws that they are forced to obey.”

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And Shootacre Lane resident Trish Kelly, who home backs onto the site, said while the alternative sites plan was “fabulous”, in principle it was “not right”.

She said: “I think these people should find their own places to live.”

The council says it has used all its powers to try and remove the gypsies from Hemley Hill, including an enforcement notice.

Yet it will now be dealt with by the independent Planning Inspectorate at a public hearing at the council next year.

The authority hopes its location in the Green Belt and the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the alternative sites will see it thrown out.

Mr Unsworth said: “We believe we have a very good case against it. We have gone into the issues very deeply.”

If WDC loses it faces a legal bill running into the tens of thousands. Its cabinet is expected to approve the alternative sites model on Monday and consult on it this month.

* Residents can give their views on the Hemley Hill appeal to The Planning Inspectorate by January 12.

Write to Ewa Sherman, Room 3/26B The Planning Inspectorate, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6PN. Include appeal number PP/K0425/C/09/2115651.

Saunderton resident Elaine Beckly said residents should oppose the plan.

Noise, waste and visual impact is “intolerable”, she said. “It is vital that we maintain this support by making our objections.”

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