MP attacks council over travellers' site choice

Andrew Robinson

AN MP has accused a Yorkshire council of failing to fully consult residents over plans for an official site for gipsies and travellers.

Wakefield Council is considering building a traveller camp on the site of a recycling centre in Owl Lane, Ossett, which could close in 2012.

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Dewsbury MP Simon Reevell has accused the council of wanting to build the site as far away from the city as possible.

He claimed that residents in Kirklees, rather than Wakefield, would be the most affected.

In a letter to council leader Peter Box, the MP said that his constituents were furious.

“They are adamant that they do not want a traveller site on their doorstep because of the likelihood that it will result in higher levels of crime, noise and anti-social behaviour.

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“A protest petition has been set up which has already gathered more than 1,000 signatures.”

Mr Reevell said the site had been chosen because it would least impact the people of Wakefield.

“You couldn’t have chosen an area of land that is further away from the city. It will be residents living in Shaw Cross and Dewsbury who will have to put up with the site and whose lives will be affected by it.

“The lack of consultation has been deeply troubling. Residents have told me that they have been kept completely in the dark.”

He is urging the council to find a more suitable location:

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“If Wakefield Council feels the need to build another traveller site then it should be located well within Wakefield’s boundaries.”

Wakefield already has one official site for travellers, on Heath Common.

A council spokesman said consultations were currently taking place on land use plans contained in the Local Development Framework.

Deputy council leader Denise Jeffery said the authority had a statutory duty to allocate land use in a way which catered for all sections of the community.

But Mr Reevell disputed this, saying that the Government had scrapped the central targets which told local councils how many traveller sites they had to build.