There are plans for a £1.1m Gypsy and Traveller site in Ellesmere Port to tackle the ‘high level’ of unauthorised encampments in the town as well as Chester .
Cabinet members at Cheshire West and Chester Council will tomorrow (Wednesday, July 11) be asked to support setting up a council-run transit site on land previously occupied by the Foxfields pub, Poole Hall Road.
But a report to go before councillors acknowledges there could be ‘public opposition’ to the plan.
The proposed transit site is a permanent facility intended for temporary stays by Gypsies and Travellers varying between 28 days and three months. Research indicates it would need to accommodate at least 10 pitches.
Each pitch would have space for two touring caravans, two parking spaces and private amenities comprising two electrical hook-ups, a standpipe for drinking water and drainage. There would be shared bathroom and laundry facilities as well as a play area. Rent would be charged on a daily basis towards the £35,000 annual running costs.
A report before the cabinet says Cheshire West and Chester ‘experiences a high level of unauthorised’ Gypsy and Traveller encampments, with 70 between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2018, including 39 on council land and 31 on private land. Sixty were in the north of the borough – Ellesmere Port and Chester.
The document continues: “The provision of a transit site would enable encampments to be moved to the site immediately. This can be done by the police using their powers under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 in order to direct Travellers to the site from unauthorised encampments.
“If they refuse to go to the site then they have to leave the borough and cannot return for three months.”
It adds: “Halton Borough Council has had a transit site since February 2009. Encampment numbers have greatly reduced since then, from 83 in 2005, 66 in 2006 to 4 in 2009 and 9 in 2015. Unfortunately this has had an impact on neighbouring authorities, who have seen an increase in encampment numbers.”
Among the ‘risks’ referenced if the plan is pursued, the report states: “There may be public opposition to the site being developed as a transit site. There will be an opportunity for the local community to make representations about the proposed development through the planning process.”
The report recommends cabinet support in preparing a planning application for the transit site at the old Foxfields pub location. The plot was considered by the council in the past but rejected in 2009 after being deemed unacceptable in terms of attracting government funding at the time.
Subject to planning approval, councillors are asked to agree funding from the existing housing capital allocation and to submit a funding application to Homes England. Permission is sought to select a suitable contractor to build the site and for arrangements to be made so the site could be managed by the Cheshire and Warrington Traveller Team.
