Telford traveller site bid raising concerns
Housing gipsies and travellers on a temporary site in Telford would give visitors the "wrong impression" of the town, residents have claimed.
About 10 people have written to Telford & Wrekin Council objecting to plans to set up the site, which they claim would be too close to the recently-refurbished town centre.
A vacant site opposite Kiyokuni Europe Ltd in Holyhead Road, Snedshill, would be turned into temporary space for gipsy and traveller caravans under the plans.
The site would have enough pitches for 15 caravans, including portable toilets, and would be in use until February 2016.
The proposals have been put together by Telford & Wrekin Council while £1.75 million worth of improvements is being carried out at its permanent site on Lodge Road in Donnington Wood.
Residents of the site would be temporarily housed in Snedshill while improvements are carried out.
Commenting on the application, Terry Abbott of Priorslee said: "As far as I'm aware the site has never been used so I cannot understand why the planning permission is being sought again.
"The site is inappropriately positioned as it is so close to the town centre and I feel this will give the wrong impression to the numerous visitors now being attracted to Telford following the improvement to the town centre."
Russell Griffin, spokesman for the council said the earliest the application can go before the authority's planning committee is December 16.
He said: "The application that the council has submitted is for the extension of the licence to the existing temporary transit site.
"This is so the site can continue to support our robust policy preventing unlawful encampment that caused such a blight to our local environment before we had the site. Due to this policy the site at Snedshill has not been used by the travelling community for the past four months."
