Gedney traveller pitches turned down over drowning fears
Families would be at risk of drowning if five gypsy/traveller pitches were allowed on former farmland in Gedney, according to councillors.
Members of South Holland District Council’s planning committee turned down a plan for five family pitches at The Orchards in Blazegate, Gedney at their meeting on Wednesday night over fears that the land could flood.
The decision comes despite the fact that touring caravans have been put on the site already, with no planning permission - and the people there now face enforcement action.
In a report to the meeting, the Environment Agency had said flood waters could reach as high as 1.6m, leading to the ‘danger of loss of life’.
Coun Peter Coupland said he had not seen a report from the Environment Agency for some time and that those water levels ‘would wash a caravan away’.
Coun Roger Gambba-Jones said: “It’s a grave concern that it’s a high flood risk location - we are concerned about the risk to human life. I don’t think anybody should gloss over that.
“This is not a good location for any form of development.”
Councillors were told that there was a potential case that the mere fact of this application proved an ‘unknown need’ in the area for more gypsy/traveller pitches.
The authority is already said to have met the ‘known need’.
Coun Gambba-Jones said the district had been very reasonable to the gypsy/traveller community and called for the Government to ditch the idea of ‘unknown need’ in planning policy.
He said flood fears were reason enough to refuse this plan but there might come a time when the council has to say ‘enough is enough’.
Coun Allan Beal was also worried about leaving the authority open to ‘any and every’ application if they accept that the mere fact of an application demonstrates ‘unknown need’ for sites. He also criticised the highways authority for not raising objections to the location.
He said: “Lincolnshire County Council clearly disregard highways safety as far as I am concerned. They acknowledge that this is out of the way, narrow with no lighting but they are happy for families to live there.”
