South Holland District Council has “no firm plans” for the two large plots of land it acquired in exchange for developing new gypsy and traveller sites.
Sites at Rose View Drive in Holbeach and Evergreen Close (off Drain Bank North) in Spalding were both built to replace longstanding unauthorised encampments made by travellers. The cost was met by taxpayers via a £1.75million grant from the Department for Communities and Local Government.
In the case of the land in Holbeach vacated by travellers, the Cranmore Lane site has lain unchanged and unused since they moved to the £1million Rose View Drive site more than five years ago.
The council told The Voice: “The council secured the site when the travellers moved and we continue to monitor it.
“No firm plans are yet in place and we will be considering our options in tandem with moving forwards with the new Local Plan. We will keep you informed of progress.”
This month the council has also taken ownership of land at Broad Drove in Gosberton Clough, following the authority handing over the new 30-pitch site in Spalding, which cost £416,595 to develop.
Once it has been cleared, the council will then assess the site’s condition and consider its options.
“No decision has yet been made and any decisions will of course be made in the public arena,” a spokesman said. “We would expect to engage nearby residents in this process.”
Meanwhile, the council has confirmed that all ten pitches at the new Spalding site have been transferred to the travellers who are in the process of setting out their plots to their own requirements.
It added: “The plots will all be in private ownership and liable for their own on-site services and payment of council tax.”
The site was built alongside an exisiting unauthorised site, which has been identified in the emerging Local Plan as a permanent site.
The Voice asked the council what measures it has in place in the event of a recurrence of travellers adopting land and living on it without planning permission.
The spokesman said: “Should any further unauthorised development occur we will consider the most appropriate course of action at the time. Any actions taken would need, as is the case for all unauthorised development, to take account of relevant material planning considerations.
“The council now has an up to date travellers needs assessment and this demonstrates that we are presently meeting our existing need. We will seek to meet future need through the Local Plan process.”
