Plans submitted for new traveller site in North Yorkshire countryside

A new traveller camp in the North Yorkshire countryside would address a shortage of sites, says the applicant.

Plans have been submitted to create a new ten-pitch site on land near Kellington, between Selby and Knottingley.

The application, submitted to North Yorkshire Council, seeks permission to change the use of land off Upper Common Lane.

The development would include hardstanding, fencing and a play and amenity area, with the application described as partly retrospective.

The site is outside Kellington’s development limits and is therefore classed as open countryside.

But the applicant’s planning consultants, Mark Simmonds Planning Services, argue that the land is not an isolated or untouched countryside site, pointing to existing development and a traveller site immediately next door which was granted permission by the council in 2020.

The proposed pitches would accommodate members of an extended family in what the applicant describes as “one convivial unit”.

Plans show the ten units arranged in two rows of five, with parking between them and a green play area at the northern end of the development.

Existing access from Upper Common Lane would be retained.

Supporting documents say the site has a history of residential use.

Permission for the retention of a mobile home and outbuildings, together with the use of the land for two touring caravans, was granted on appeal in 2002.

The applicant argues there is a significant shortage of authorised traveller accommodation in the former Selby district.

The documents adds: “The council does not appear to have an adequate supply of allocated sites and in particular no small sites which would accommodate a family arrangement.

“Existing sites are already occupied and not suitable for the applicant and this site, with mitigation, provides a safe well screened site which provides a base for an extended family in need of accommodation.

“The lack of alternative accommodation, specifically the lack of a five-year supply of deliverable pitches, provides a significant material consideration.”

The agents says the proposed development would help meet an “obvious need” for pitches and argues the site offers an alternative to traveller developments within the green belt.

Planning consultants also say the location is suitable because of its existing residential use and proximity to the neighbouring traveller site.