AN application for the retention of a gypsy and traveller site for one pitch, in addition to its lawful use as a timber yard with paddocks, on land west of Highgate House, Lyeway Lane, Ropley, has been granted permission by East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) planners.

Despite a strong counter-argument by lawyers representing the occupants of Highgate House, Ropley Parish Council and ward councillor Charles Louisson, the committee voted to allow the application, which was partly retrospective, as it proposed the retention of a touring caravan and the placing of a static home.

They also chose to respect the view of Hampshire County Council’s gypsy liaison officer that the applicants were both of Romany ethnicity, that the site would be for their own residential use, and that there were no plans for the site to be occupied by other people.

The objectors, however, questioned the applicants’ claim that they led a nomadic lifestyle and were concerned that the site was located outside the settlement policy boundary for Ropley, away from local amenities, would be visible from the village conservation area, and had not been identified as a traveller site in EHDC’s Local Plan.

Furthermore, there were concerns about the impact on the residents of Highgate House, including “the nuisance and loss of amenity” but also about the safety of the applicant’s children, living on a site which was adjacent to a timber business.

The applicants’ agent stressed the need within the district for more gypsy/traveller sites and also the rights of the applicant’s children to be allowed to stay in Ropley in order to access the village school. He also stressed the applicants’ desire to return to leading a more independent, nomadic lifestyle, enabling the man of the family to travel for work. The planning officer confirmed that EHDC didn’t currently have a five-year supply of land for gypsy/traveller use which it was required by planning law to have.

While some councillors were sympathetic to the objectors, voting against the application, the decision to back officer recommendation for permission was carried with a condition for additional screening and that the caravans be painted green to blend in with the background.