£1.2m upgrade for traveller site wins funding from Government

Simon Bristow

THE Government is to fund a 1.2m extension and overhaul of a gipsy and traveller camp in the East Riding.

The site in Eppleworth Road, Cottingham, is to be doubled in size to accommodate 20 pitches with a series of improvements to improve the quality of life of its residents.

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East Riding Council, which has secured the funding from the Homes and Communities Agency, said the 30-year-old camp was “no longer fit for purpose”, while a local councillor described conditions at the site as “ghastly”.

Cottingham South ward councillor Katrin McClure, a Liberal Democrat, said: “We need the permanent pitches in the East Riding because we are really short of them.

“There are two sites near Cottingham and they are really in a pretty poor state, particularly the Eppleworth Road one.

“There is one toilet shared by 10 families and no hot water. It’s awful, it’s ghastly, you wouldn’t build 10 council houses and put one toilet between them.”

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She added: “It’s in a quarry and the sides started crumbling and they had to put netting up to stop it.

“Their children go to primary school and secondary school and they have lived here for generations.

“They find it difficult living in houses, it’s not what they’re used to. The children go to school absolutely spick and span.”

The council is expected to put in a planning application outlining the scheme over the next few weeks, and is inviting the public to see its proposals in an exhibition in the village on Thursday.

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The authority said extending the site would help reduce unauthorised camps made by gipsies and travellers elsewhere in the borough.

It said: “The site has been in existence since the 1980s and it has been acknowledged that it is no longer fit for purpose and work is required to bring it up to acceptable standards. The council has a legal duty to provide permanent gipsy and traveller sites and this work will also be beneficial because the improvements and extension to the site will help reduce unauthorised encampments by travellers.

“The proposed site also maintains current links and access to local facilities already used by the gipsy and traveller community, such as hospitals, doctors, schools, shops and other facilities.”

There are two other authorised gipsy and traveller camps in the East Riding – at the 18-pitch Wood Hill Way site in Cottingham, and at Woldgate in Bridlington, which has 23 pitches.

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The council has already announced plans to build a replacement camp next to the existing site in Bridlington, which would be increased in total size to provide a total of 22 pitches.

The council is also expected to submit a planning application for this scheme in the autumn.

A grant for the new Bridlington camp was approved by the previous Government – and the council is keen to spend it.

The portfolio holder for cultural services, housing and public protection, Coun Jane Evison, said: “The funding which the previous Government has made available will disappear if it is not spent on this project in the near future.

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“The work would still need to be done and funding would them need to be paid for through another source such as council tax, which is something we would want to avoid.

“This site has been chosen in direct response to the comments and feedback we have received from members of the community including those who use the site, and those who live elsewhere in the town.”

Plans for the Eppleworth Road site can be seen at Cottingham Civic Hall from 11.30am to 6.30pm.

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