Council blamed over gypsy site shortage

Earlier in the year, the Government Planning Inspectorate granted gypsy Linda Smith a two-and-a-half year extension to remain on land at Powdermill Land in Battle after she risked being ejected by Rother, following a series of planning breaches.

The Planning Inspectorate said he was granting the temporary extension to allow Rother time to find land for a new traveller's site.

Currently the only authorised site in Rother is in Fair Lane, Robertsbridge, which is overcrowded and has a waiting list.

But at a Battle Town Council meeting, the Rother councillor for Crowhurst, Angharad Davies, said the council should act as soon as possible.

She said if the council does not find a suitable site soon, there could be more cases of travellers setting up home on unauthorised sites.

Cllr Davies said: "The Inspector came to this decision because Rother Council have not identified the official pitches that are needed. If there had been other sites available they would not be allowed to stay there.

"Rother should not be waiting until 2011, which is the last moment in time to identify the site, but should be doing something now, or we could get more of these cases.

"There have been examples in the past where travellers have sold the property back to the council so it can become a permanent site in the absence of any other pitches."

Fellow Rother Councillor Kevin Dixon said: "Parishes were asked, by Rother, to identify places to accommodate travellers and you can imagine the response - it was a big fat zero."

Chairman of Battle Town Council, Cllr David Hussey, added: "It seems strange for Rother to keep extending the end date when they don't have an end game."

Rother District Council head of planning Tim Hickling said: "The South East Plan examination in public on the provision of gypsy and travellers sites until 2026 took place in February of this year.

"We are awaiting the outcome and this will determine the number of permanent sites required for the Rother District over this period.

"This requirement will then be the basis for allocating sites over the coming year.

"Until such time as this policy framework is in place there will continue to be uncapped demand for new permanent sites."