Surrey landowner says he’ll provide county’s first short-stay Traveller site
An owner of a patch of land outside Pirbright says he’ll provide Surrey’s first short-stay Traveller site and has started work to launch his bid.
Stoney Castle near Pirbright, which has previously been used as a scrap yard, could be put forward as a proposed site, according to the person responsible for it.
Daniel Hill, who looks after the land on behalf of his father, said the site is the “perfect location” for a short-stay site and he has instructed a planning consultant to work on an application to Guildford Borough Council.
Mr Hill described the land as “notorious” and “a yard that isn’t being used as a yard”.
He said because it is brownfield land it means no need for development on green belt land and he believes it would help with the shortage of pitches for Travellers in Surrey.
He said: “It is the perfect location. I feel I’ve got the solution, and I’m happy to make this happen.”
He also said he could develop the land cheaper than other sites so far suggested by Surrey County County, including the site proposed next to the permanent Pendell camp on which a decision was deferred last week by Tandridge District Council.
Surrey County Council has been working with the district and borough councils in the county to provide the first short-stay site, which would be available for people to stay for up to four weeks.
Mr Hill added: “The benefits are quite considerable. The first benefit is it’s a brownfield site. It’s not like you’re developing in the green belt.
“And we could deliver this site for a fraction of the cost. The cost that we’ve been estimated to develop the site to a 20 pitch transit site is about £600,000.”
He said his proposed site had full backing of the charity Friends, Families and Travellers.
Plans for the site include facilities for those using it including temporary education provision for children and health facilities.
Mr Hill said: “Everybody deserves a safe place to live. And Gypsies and Travellers are just people.
“A lot of people don’t see it like that, they see this as a problem somehow. ‘These are people that we need to banish from Surrey, these are people we we don’t want in our society.’ And really, that’s not how this should be looked at.”
A Surrey County Council spokesperson said the statutory responsibility to provide and maintain Gypsy Roma and Traveller (GRT) sites sat with the district and borough councils but that the county council had supported this need by providing land for sites.
The spokesperson said that the collaboration of all local government bodies in the county to bring forward the Pendell Transit site had led to a review of individual GRT approaches and a county wide approach was being developed to best meet the needs of the community.
They added: “The GRT community is entitled to the same services as those in the housed community, including the right to occupy premises that are fit for use.
“This includes accessible accommodation and facilities. By providing a transit site in Surrey, the transient GRT population will have the opportunity to address issues such as access to healthcare and social services.
“The provision of power and hot water facilities will help to provide essential temporary respite from the rigours of lives spent on the road.”