Thousands fight traveller sites

8:49am Wednesday 12th September 2007

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VILLAGERS from London Colney angry at proposals for more traveller sites will present a petition of more than 2,000 signatures to St Albans District Council tonight.

People who have signed the petition are concerned at proposals for an extra 34 pitches in the district, double the allocation for any other district in Hertfordshire. St Albans already has the highest number of pitches in the county and London Colney residents are outraged that a report carried out for the district council suggested two Green Belt fields in the village were among the best places for new pitches to be sited.

The signatories say they object to the proposals to site pitches in London Colney, to the public consultation method employed by the East of England Regional Assembly, and to the number of pitches allocated to St Albans district.

The petition also calls for the London Colney sites to be disregarded by the district council in any future consultation document.

A coach has been laid on by London Colney Parish Council to take protestors to St Albans for tonight's meeting.

Parish council chairman Malcolm MacMillan said: "The people of the village have joined forces with the parish council to make known their views. We know that St Albans councillors are against further sites, but at the same time they are proposing to identify further sites."

Campaign group EeraGoAgain, which was set up in response to the EERA public consultation, will also be attending the meeting. One of the group's leaders, Martin Myland, said he was currently pressing the district council to provide funds for a legal challenge to the consultation, which EeraGoAgain says was difficult for residents to respond to.

St Albans MP Anne Main said she had received assurances from the district council that compulsory purchase powers would not be used to secure land for new gipsy and traveller sites and that planning portfolio holder Councillor Chris Brazier was committed to fighting sites in London Colney. She said: "I will continue to fight any additional sites being dictated to us by EERA, which is still conducting a review into this matter. We can't have sites imposed on us by the back door. I believe that St Albans already fulfils its duty to accommodate gipsies and travellers."