We are pleased that a plan to expand the Little Lily traveller site on Toms Lane has been REFUSED this week after a campaign by local Conservative councillors.
Three Rivers' Planning Committee rejected the application to allow 10 static caravans to be built at Little Lily.
This is five more static caravans than had been allowed previously, to replace touring caravans: essentially allowing twice as many people to live in the same space.
The refusal was steered through by the Leader of the Conservatives, Oliver Cooper, who had spoken to many Toms Lane and Highview residents about their concerns.
Before his intervention and his proposal to refuse the application, the committee was only considering how to improve the hedges, which is not really the main problem!
Instead, he raised issues residents had picked up with him and us, including major rat infestations. He forced the council to admit that the application introduces no mechanisms to stop further infestations.
You can watch this here
Many residents asked councillor Vicky Edwards and Ian Campbell to speak on their behalf at the meeting, as the residents were worried about speaking out on such a sensitive subject. However, the (Lib Dem) Chair refused to allow them to speak on residents' behalf.
He said he could allow a member of the public to speak for them instead. But he changed his mind and refused again when he heard it was Jo Colledge-Miller, who was almost elected as Toms Lane's councillor in May.
Conservative councillor Vicky Edwards had asked the council to allow objections to be made anonymously, as most councils do, but the council has refused.
While the refusal is welcome, the Council's Leader refused to allow loss of the Green Belt to be a reason to reject the plans. That will make it harder to legally defend the refusal.
Nonetheless, we are very pleased with the refusal of the application, and grateful to dozens of residents who spoke to us privately to ensure we could stand up on their behalf.
We will continue to fight against the spread of traveller sites on Toms Lane, and oppose them dominating or changing our community.
