Gipsy site would help tackle shortfall in suitable pitches

PLANNING officers say a proposed gipsy site north of Yate would help meet a shortfall in pitches, despite a large number of objections to the scheme.

Shannon Parks wants to create 12 pitches and utility rooms, as well as two transit pitches and a site manager's office, in open countryside off Tanhouse Lane.

The plan had been expected to be determined at a South Gloucestershire Council meeting last month but was deferred so a number of outstanding issues could be addressed, including how caravans would reach the site safely.

The agricultural land can only be reached along narrow country roads with tight junctions, sharp bends and hump-back bridges.

At the time, the development control committee was expected to be recommended to reject the application. But with the extra details forwarded, councillors meeting in the new year are now likely to be asked to give their approval. More than 460 comments have been made about the scheme and both Rangeworthy parish and Yate town councils have objected.

They said local roads were unsuitable for the increased amount of traffic the scheme would generate, would lead to over-development of a rural area and claimed there was no demand as another travellers' site in the area at Hall End had been sold off for other purposes.

But planning officer Simon Penketh said not enough new pitches had been provided recently.

He said: "Since 2007, 18 residential pitches and four transit pitches have been granted planning permission. This comprised of five pitches permitted at the Hall End site, with the remaining provided on existing family sites through intensification. The outstanding identified need for the period up to 2011 has not been met."

As of April 2011, there was an outstanding need for 62 residential and 21 transit pitches.

Mr Penketh said Shannon Parks had showed there was enough visibility at the access of the site onto Tanhouse Lane and said caravans would be transported on trailers that allowed loads to pass over obstructions such as bridges. But it was acknowledged that load heights might require the removal of tree branches.

It was also recognised that the lane was an official cycling route and used by ramblers and horse riders but planners felt the scale of the gipsy site would not introduce so much extra traffic as to affect road safety.

Although not in the green belt, the area is in a location where residential development is usually not permitted. Planners will meet on January 5 to determine the application.