Council approves three–pitch Gypsy site application

Members of Derbyshire Dales District Council’s planning committee approved the application for a three–pitch Traveller site at the Woodyard, off the A6 at Homesford.

Permission, for the application, which was submitted by the Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group, was granted for a period of three years.

Previous applications for holiday lodges on the site have been turned down by the authority, initially on the grounds that there were too many, and because the holiday homes would be “inherently prominent and encroaching and detrimental to the character and appearance of the countryside”.

Commenting in Facebook, Melissa Slaney said: “The council have to be seen to do the right thing by minority groups. The Gypsies didn’t use the site at Rowsley, preferring Bakewell Showground.”

Mark McGrath added: “I like to give everybody a fair chance but I can’t help thinking it will turn into a tip with rubbish everywhere.”

Despite repeated attempts by the Mercury, the Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group would not comment on this story.