Car park traveller plan rejected by council

Plans for a council traveller site in a village in Derbyshire have been rejected after facing opposition from residents and other local authorities.

On Tuesday, Derbyshire Dales District Council opted to reject its own application for a temporary two-year plot on the Old Station Close car park in Rowsley.

Councillors highlighted the reduction in parking spaces, impact on a disabled arts charity and its users, disruption to residents and businesses and the effect on a neighbouring cycle trail.

This followed nearly 100 objections from residents filed to the council, along with opposition from Derbyshire county and Rowsley parish councils.

The planning application had followed a district council approval in December to allocate temporary two-year traveller sites for specific families for parts of the year - with Rowsley only to be used between March and October.

Sue Hobson, former district council leader, said she "strongly" objected to the plans and she had made formal complaints to the authority over what she felt had been a "flawed process".

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service there would have been a legal challenge made to the council if the plans had been approved.

Ms Hobson said there had been a failure to properly assess equality and that the scheme represented a "travesty of planning and a betrayal of the people of Rowsley".

Kerry Andrews, director of the neighbouring Level Arts Centre for disabled artists, claimed there was "ingrained ableism and discrimination" demonstrated by the council.

Families whose children use the centre said it needed protection to retain its viability and community benefit, with concerns over the lack of essential parking for disabled people.

David Gibbs, an objecting resident, said his newly opened flour business could have been at risk of closing if the plans were approved, after takings were halved when part of the car park was used by Severn Trent earlier this year.

John Youatt, a campaigner and planning consultant who has advocated for housing travellers on an approved site known as the Woodyard, near Cromford, claimed travellers had been "discriminated against for 15 years".

Steve Buffery, strategic planning manager for the county council, said the plot was not suitable for a traveller site, citing its proximity to a cycling and walking route and the potential perception they would be "isolated" and "segregated" from the surrounding community.

Mark Simmonds, interim development manager for the district council, said the "perfect" traveller site did not exist and that this plot would have provided temporary relief for some of the district's needs.

Derbyshire County Council's cabinet member for net zero and environment, Carol Wood, welcomed the decision and added: "We will work positively to support Derbyshire Dales in their search for an alternative site to accommodate our traveller community."

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