Storm over gypsy caravan park plan

FIFTEEN nearby residents have lodged objections to an application to make permanent a controversial temporary gypsy caravan site at Walton, Warrington.
The application has been submitted on behalf of traveller families living at the Two Acre Caravan Park, Warrington Road, Walton.
It seeks permission for 24 permanent pitches, with a total of 33 caravans, including mobile homes,  day room, site office and four amenity buildings.
Gypsy or traveller families have been living on the site, alongside the picturesque Bridgewater Canal, since 1997 after winning temporary planning consent. But the temporary consent expired in December last year so the site is currently unauthorised.
Cllr Paul Kennedy, who represents the area on Warrington Borough Council,  says  he is concerned that the site is overcrowded..
He says the application has given the impression that all that is being asked for is permanency for what already exists. But if that is the case, the site is already in serious breach of previous permissions which limited the site to 15 families and 22 caravans.
The current application seeks permission for 27 families and 35 caravans – a “massive scaling up” of the site
Cllr Kennedy said: “It is an accepted fact that the site constitutes an inappropriate development in the Green Belt and that at some time in the future the land should be restored to its former conditions – grazing land.”
Nearby residents say the application involves an increase in the size of the site and would increase traffic to an unacceptable level. Amenity buildings on the site have never had planning permission.
Planning officers are recommending the scheme be refused because it is an inappropriate development in the Green Belt causing demonstrable harm to rthe character and appearance of the countryside.
Warrington Borough Council’s development management committee will consider the application on Wednesday, October 7.