Telford Traveller site recommended for approval
A retrospective plan for two mobile homes at a proposed traveller site in the Telford countryside has been recommended for approval despite significant opposition.
Planners at Telford & Wrekin Council say that the ‘Government’s objective of ‘significantly boosting the supply of homes’ includes addressing the needs of gypsies and travellers.
“The council have an identified unmet need of 26 pitches in the borough of the emerging Local Plan,” they write when assessing the proposal in Sugden Lane, Sugden, near Rodington.
“It (the local plan) outlines that 20 of these pitches would be provided through expansion of two existing sites, with unmet need remaining.”
Council planners have been satisfied that the applicant and his son meet the criteria by being Romany Gypsies.
“The applicant grew up on a gypsy / traveller site, travelling with his family and working with his grandfather collecting scrap and trading in horses,” officials write.
They add that the applicant has personal circumstances why they need to relocate to this site with little notice.
The council officials add that a planning application cannot be refused because it is retrospective, despite local “grievance” over the matter.
They write: “The grievance raised in local representation as to the retrospective nature of this application is recognised, officers would however highlight that the local planning authority are unable to refuse an application solely because it has been applied for retrospectively.”
Another point of concern was that it would set a precedent. But planners said it “does not”.
“Nor is the applicant required to identify any future proposal through an application, each planning application is considered on its merits,” planners add.
Ward councillor Gareth Thomas (Conservative, Wrockwardine) has successfully called for the application to be decided at Telford & Wrekin Council’s planning committee on Wednesday, July 9.
Rodington Parish Council has also objected as it would be an “intrusion onto a greenfield site.”
Planning officers say the site has been subject to a series of applications over recent years, with its established equestrian use stemming from a 2021 consent.
The application has been made by J Horton using the services of specialist planning agent Gaia Planning of Gloucestershire. It specializes in providing services for smallholders, gypsies, travellers, travelling showpersons and low impact projects.
The planning committee meeting on Wednesday at Southwater starts at 6pm and is open to the public.
