Derbyshire Councillors to Consider Permanent Traveller Site Locations

Councillors within Derbyshire Dales District Council are poised to review potential locations for a permanent traveller site, following the finalization of various choices. The council reported that consultants have identified three prospective places, which are currently undisclosed due to their private ownership, and these have been presented in a report after being selected from an initial pool of six designated areas. The council’s community and environment committee is scheduled to discuss these options at a meeting on November 21. Some residents in the county have expressed opposition to the placement of potential sites near their homes. The Woodyard at Homesford is one of three areas that the report does not recommend pursuing, despite it being the only site in the district that currently holds planning consent for use as a traveller site. Also excluded from consideration in the report are Rowsley’s Station Yard car park and the Derbyshire County Council site located on Ashbourne’s Watery Lane, although the latter was originally designated as an approved permanent traveller site in 2017. At the upcoming meeting, councillors will receive a recommendation to approve the allocation of £25,000 to assess the viability of the three remaining sites. The authority also stated that committee members will be advised to approve a change in its “approach to include the use of auctions to buy possible permanent and/or temporary traveller sites”.