Council to sell off land to provide Traveller site

The site is at the junction of Parkers Road and Kents Lane at Coppenhall Moss, Crewe

A plot of land in Cheshire will be sold by the local authority to provide a permanent residential site for the Gypsy and Traveller community.

The site, at Coppenhall Moss near Crewe, was allocated in Cheshire East Council’s development policies to provide seven permanent Gypsy and Traveller pitches.

Councillors agreed to the sale this week after an earlier assessment said there was a need for additional transit pitches in the borough.

The Crewe site will still have to go through the normal planning processes once it is sold.

The authority’s head of housing, Karen Carsberg, said selling the site would be the quickest route to development and would avoid a lengthy procurement exercise or borrowing.

“The sale of the site would demonstrate that the site is deliverable and reduce the risk of other sites being brought forward through the planning process which are not currently allocated sites,” she said.

Janet Clowes, Conservative councillor for Wybunbury, said Gypsy and Traveller sites always raised local interest.

“I think it’s really important that, as we start delivering these sites, we are very clear about them, very clear about why they’re needed, and we do actually offer that respect and recognition of the need for these sites for this particular group of people,” she said.

“It’s really important that they are in the right place, that they are actually meeting the needs of the travelling community, but that where we do have sites available, that we do try and progress them as quickly as possible.”

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.