'Blatant disregard for rules': Traveller site bid for field near Derbyshire village but work started five months ago
Plans for a Traveller site have been submitted for a field close to homes and a school in a Derbyshire village – despite work having started five months ago and subject to legal action.
The scheme, filed by S Rogers to South Derbyshire District Council, would see the facilities installed in a field to the rear of homes in Woodville Road, Overseal, next to the primary school.
A planning application filed by the owner states that work on the site began last August, without permission.
This had resulted in a temporary stop notice being served on Mr Rogers by the district council, prohibiting any further work taking place or face “immediate prosecution”.
In the notice, the council stated that Mr Rogers had submitted his planning application to the authority on August 22 and that work would commence on August 23.
“Extensive deposits” of hardcore for beginning “unauthorised” building work were moved onto the site on August 22, residents and councillors reported, and photos showed.
The council said the application did not contain any information explaining how the River Mease would be protected from harm, including from potential contamination during construction.
It had said the site was outside the settlement boundary “in an area of open countryside” and metres from 30 homes.
A post and photos in early September from Samantha Niblett, South Derbyshire MP, showed further works including a track constructed on the site and extensive fencing for the three pitches and the overall plot boundary.
She posted to say the stop notice had been “ignored”, that the land had been “decimated”, raised ground levels meant people’s homes were being overlooked, and claimed there was a risk to the nearby brook.
Her photos showed three caravans and three cars on the site, each on its relevant, marked-out plot.
Ms Niblett, who also raised the issue in Parliament, posted: “I absolutely support everyone’s right to a safe and secure place to live — but that must not come at the cost of other people’s rights, privacy, or our environment.
“The blatant disregard for rules that others must follow when building or developing land is what truly sticks in the throat.
“This isn’t about me intervening on a planning application, I have no power in that process and there is no planning application here at all.
“This is about fairness, community, and respect.
“I will support residents however I can to ensure that fairness is upheld — and that everyone is held to the same standard.”
The now-amended planning application includes three pitches and three associated “day rooms”, with documents submitted by Mr Rogers detailing: “Due to the pressure of finding a settled place to live and health concerns attached to the applicant and his family members, we did not carry out a pre-application enquiry and work has been carried out to develop the site.
“This planning application is therefore retrospective. Moving forward, we consider the long-term undersupply of suitable and available Gypsy and Traveller family pitch accommodation in the borough, carries considerable weight in the decision-making process.”
The application says sewerage from the site would be contained in a sealed cesspit, which would be taken off-site to be emptied by a registered provider.
It refers to the current Gypsy and Traveller site expectations for Derbyshire until 2040, drawn up in 2024, which detail a need for 130 more plots, with 59 more needed in South Derbyshire, on top of the 86 it had at the time.
The application says this specific site would cater for six adults and seven children aged one to seven.
It makes reference to having looked at alternative sites in the “Shropshire County Borough”, but the plot lies in southern Derbyshire.
The application says: “The families have sought alternative site/pitch accommodation which could provide them with accommodation and personal safety, whilst respecting the cultural needs and heritage of the family.
“None is available in the Shropshire County Borough or the wider northeast region, meaning that the lack of alternative site provision also carries substantial weight in favour of this application.
“There is a clear unmet need in the borough that often results in unauthorised encampments.
“This is compounded year on year by the failure of the local planning authority to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable sites.
“This failure of policy is unfair towards Gypsy and Traveller people is substantial and prejudices the opportunities for settled family accommodation, which also at odds with the Government’s overarching aim to ensure fair and equal treatment for travellers, in a way that facilitates the traditional and nomadic way of life of travellers while respecting the interests of the settled community.
“These failings also offend the public sector equality duty (equal rights) and the human rights of the adults and the children who would live on the site.
“It is also clear that the proposals for this site represent a positive approach towards meeting the needs of the traveller population, who do not have any realistic sites or opportunities to stop lawfully whilst travelling.”