Approval for Mere traveller site given
Plans for the Jane Oaks Farm site have caused controversy
A controversial new traveller site has been approved on a farm near Mere.
A field at Jane Oaks Farm south of Mere is to be used for four mobile homes, four touring caravans along with two buildings for showers and utility rooms and a sewage treatment plant.
The plans have caused a lot of controversy with residents saying it would be wrong to set a new development in the middle of the countryside.
However, those in favour argued the site is derelict and close enough to Mere for families who will live there to have access to schools and other amenities so it should be considered a suitable site.
Councillors were reminded at the beginning of the debate by a council officer: “We are significantly under provided for traveller sites in the county. I think the last count was 74 needed.”
One objector to the application said: “The proposed dwellings will be a considerable distance from shops, schools, local public transport etc. how will children reach local schools, doctors surgeries?
“There has been a similar application approved and existing just below Mapperton Hill Farm, it seems a complete mess with a couple of caravans, no drainage in the field, is this development going to become the same?
“What is the plan if there are two ruined sites close together but not linked, just for the whole area to have uncultivated fields with odd caravans parked in them?”
Another said: “Please take note of the appalling situation on the nearby traveller site: if despite strong objections this site were to be approved, there should be conditions to ensure the site is managed so that it is self-contained and has all the necessary amenities for sewerage, drainage and waste disposal.”
However, a speaker in favour of the application said based on planning law: “Gypsy sites can be appropriately located within rural and semi-rural areas and I would imagine that all and certainly the vast majority of the cases that have gone to appeal in Wiltshire have taken place on sites in the countryside outside of settlements.”
He added that previous appeals showed inspectors had approved traveller sites that were up to five miles from a town and this site is well within that range.