South Norfolk council scraps plans for new traveller site
There were plans for 18 pitches on land off Bawburgh Lane
Proposals to create a new traveller site in Costessey have been scrapped, after councillors argued there were too many planned for the area.
Under the plans, 18 pitches could have been created on land off Bawburgh Lane.
If approved, it would have meant there would have been three such sites within a one-mile radius.
The scheme had drawn heavy criticism from South Norfolk Council, with leader John Fuller saying it is “not acceptable, not justified and not needed”.
As part of the Greater Norwich Local Plan (GNLP) – a blueprint for housing development in the city and its outskirts over the next 15 years – a list of 12 traveller sites has been proposed by officials, including the Bawburgh Lane location.
At a council meeting to discuss the plans, councillors raised a number of concerns about the site, and officials agreed to drop it from the GNLP plans.
Terry Laidlaw, Liberal Democrat councillor for Old Costessey, said: “We understand the need for sites.
“We felt that Costessey has done quite a bit in terms of travellers sites, we have other sites. We have Tower Hill, we have contributed to that.”
Mr Fuller echoed the concern saying the scheme would lead to an “unacceptable concentration of sites” in the Costessey area.
The Bawburgh Lane site would have been within 400 metres of a short-stay travellers site already operating next to the park and ride.
It would also be within 500 metres of another site proposed in the GNLP, off Hockering Lane.
South Norfolk Council officials agreed that the Costessey site should be removed from the GNLP.