A proposed traveller site in Nottinghamshire has been tipped for approval despite 60 objections from local residents.
Newark and Sherwood District Council received an application for a residential caravan site with 19 pitches and the construction of one five-bedroom home where the manager of the site would live.
The plans are for land at Chestnut Lodge in Balderton, Newark-On-Trent.
Two existing caravan pitches on the site would be relocated, meaning 21 pitches in total would be on the site.
The plans will be decided on during the council’s planning committee on April 20.
The council’s Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment found there is “a significant unmet need for gypsy and traveller pitches” in the district.
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Applicant Mr Tom Holmes, who is a traveller, said in a statement: “Our community want somewhere to call home.”
But 60 residents have objected to the plans saying that the site would “diminish the standard of living of local residents”.
They said: “The number of pitches is excessive for the area and would expand the village to the detriment of local infrastructure. The quantum should be reduced.
“The development would be significantly out of character with the surrounding area.
“There are concerns over the increase in traffic due to the condition of the roads and lack of footway and streetlights.”
Barnby in the Willows Parish Council objected to the plans and raised dozens of concerns about road safety, loss of privacy, privacy, and light pollution.
They said the potential for 38 families on site is a concern for capacity reasons.
Balderton Parish Council and Coddington Parish Council also objected.
Applicant Mr Holmes, who would manage the site if approved, wrote in a statement: “As the owner and the manager of the site there will be nobody coming on or off this site to live without my say so.
“We have lived at Chestnut Lodge for the past two years and we get along fine with our neighbours and we want it to stay that way, that’s the reason why I need to manage this site myself.
“I hope that this application is looked at seriously with considering local families that have no place to call home. So I am willing to submit my land to help with the local need.
“As a traveller myself, I understand the circumstances of the local people, I also understand the way Gypsy and Traveller sites are run.
“Our community want somewhere to call home, but there aren’t enough Gypsy and Traveller sites in the area. ”
Council documents stated: “The net addition of 20 pitches proposed would contribute directly and indirectly to the significant unmet need of the Council’s five-year land supply and identified Gypsy and Traveller need over the plan period.
“This pitch contribution carries significant positive weight in favour of the proposal.
“The site is in a relatively highly sustainable location, as although located in the open countryside, the site is in close proximity to all the facilities required for day to day living and the requirements of growing families.
“Officers consider the benefits of the scheme would outweigh the identified harm. It is therefore recommended that planning permission is granted, subject to conditions.”
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