Four temporary sites agreed for traveller families

Station Yard car park in Matlock Bath is among the sites that will be temporarily turned over to the families

Derbyshire Dales councillors have agreed in principle to allocate four temporary sites to traveller families, in what is hoped will end a decades-long dispute over where they should go.

If planning permission is granted, the four sites - in Rowsley, Matlock, Matlock and Middleton by Wirksworth - will be given on a two-year basis until a permanent site can be agreed on.

There remains fierce opposition to the sites being adopted, with residents voicing anger at a meeting at County Hall in Matlock this week.

Two sites under consideration in Wirksworth and Matlock were scrapped from the initial list of six for environmental reasons.

The chosen sites are:

• Car Park at Old Station Close Rowsley

• Station Yard car park, Dale Road, Matlock Bath

• Car park Derwent Way, Matlock

• Land to north-east of Cemetery, New Road, Middleton by Wirksworth

It is estimated it will cost the council abound £300,000 a year to maintain the sites.

The process of granting planning permission will need to include environmental assessments, given contamination concerns on some of the sites and some locations encroaching on land classified as a flood risk.

Derbyshire County Council had expressed opposition to all of the sites being taken forward.

The district council's planning committee will decide whether to approve the sites at a later date.

Marilyn Frank, who chairs the cross-party traveller working group said the families deserve a place where they can live "in privacy and with respect"

The Liberal Democrat leader of the council, Steve Flitter, told the BBC the decision "wasn't ideal, but it's a good start to a way forward".

Councillor Marilyn Frank, who chairs the cross-party traveller working group, said the ultimate destination was a permanent site.

"I'm pleased with tonight's result," she said.

"It's not ideal, it's far from ideal, car parks...[the families] need somewhere which can be developed, where they have adequate privacy and can live like any of us live, in privacy and with respect."

Residents at the meeting claimed the council had overlooked issues caused by families already occupying Matlock Bath's Station Yard car park, including noise disruption and the impact on tourism.

Matlock Bath Parish Council chair Peter Baranek said coach companies choosing to avoid the car park had resulted in a loss of thousands of visitors and millions in lost income to the local economy.

Conservative group leader Sue Hobson - who was leader of the district council when the current site in Matlock Bath where the families have been mostly occupying was agreed as a stop-gap solution - voted against the proposals.

She told the meeting: "All those people who have taken the time to come and speak at council meetings again and again...you've been totally ignored."