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, is to be heard by East Hampshire District Council’s (EHDC) planning committee.

The application, to be heard on a revised date of Monday, February 12, is partly retrospective as it proposes the retention of a touring caravan and the placing on the site of a static home.

According to Hampshire County Council’s gypsy liaison officer, the applicants have confirmed that the application is for their own residential use and that there are no plans for the site to be occupied by other people.

The applicants are both of gypsy ethnicity and they wish to continue this traditional family and cultural lifestyle.

There have been 35 letters of objection raised to the application, challenging the applicant’s claim that he is a travelling gypsy and has lived a settled lifestyle in a house since 2003. Additional concerns range from the fact that the site is outside the settlement policy boundary for Ropley, that the site was not put forward during the recent call for gypsy and traveller sites, that the proposed use of land would have a harmful impact on the character of the area, and that there are no services on the site.

Ropley Parish Council has objected on similar grounds, pointing out that there is “no significant evidence that the applicant has been living a nomadic life”.

There have been 11 letters supporting the application, stating that the applicants are, indeed, a “traditional Romany family” and that they stay in Somerset for up to six weeks a year when working in that area.

Officers are recommending granting permission.