New Telford travellers' site set to be approved

Telford & Wrekin Council wants to transform Ketley Community Recycling Centre site into pitches for gipsies and travellers.

According to the proposals there will be 14 pitches altogether and the site, which is situated next to a scrap yard off Whitchurch Drive, would be fully screened and have CCTV.

But the plans have faced objections from residents who say the loss of the recycling centre will have a detrimental impact on the borough. Despite concerns, officers have recommended the plans for approval when it goes before Telford & Wrekin Council's planning committee on Wednesday.

The new site will be subject to a number of conditions.

The council needs to find 32 traveller pitches before 2031.

A report to the committee by officer Daniel Owen says: "The provision of additional pitches will also contribute towards reducing the likelihood of unauthorised encampments, which cause problems for residents and businesses, as well as meeting identified needs."

But in comments posted online, residents have said they are unhappy about the loss of recycling facilities in this part of town.

Oliver Dearlove, of Ketley Park, said: "Although I do not object to the creation of sites as they are clearly a requirement to try and stop the illegal sites that pop up, I do object to the fact that yet another utilised service is going to be scrapped and removed.

"That site is always busy, and even more so now it has been reduced to less days of opening."

The council says the site has been superceded by the development of Veolia's new site in Hortonwood, on which construction began in 2014.

The news comes following a meeting of the committee at the start of April where councillors called for other areas of Telford to take responsibility for travellers' sites, after agreeing a further extension of the existing site in Donnington.

Councillor Nigel Dugmore said it was the third or fourth time the traveller site off Lodge Road in Donnington Wood had been extended and it was time for other areas to be considered for future locations.