Travellers have been refused permission to permanently occupy a site in the Bristol area. A planning application which would allow gypsies to permanently occupy fields on Henfield Road in Coalpit Heath has been refused by South Gloucestershire Council.
It comes despite claims from the applicant that the council is failing to provide space for travellers in the area. A planning statement was submitted by Ruston Planning on behalf of Larry Harvey, who was given permission in 2001 to set up his own mobile home on the land for the use of himself and his family.
And the statement claims that the council "has been unable for the last 26 years to allocate sites for Gypsy and Traveller use against both national policy and a ministerial direction". But a council officer refused permission to settle on the land, with one reason being that it is Green Belt land and so the application would not be "normally considered appropriate".
