'Unsustainable' site Plans for Gypsy and Traveller pitches are refused

CONTROVERSIAL plans for a Gypsy and Traveller caravan site on 'sacred' land north of Bristol have been rejected by councillors.

- Adam POSTANS

South Gloucestershire Council development management committee went against the advice of planning officers and refused permission by 4-3 votes for three mobile homes, two touring caravans, one dayroom and a utility block on the land at Northwick Road, Northwick, between Pilning and the Severn Estuary.

They concluded that the public benefits of providing Gypsy/Traveller pitches amid a massive shortfall in the district did not outweigh the harm to the setting of a nearby Grade II-listed church tower, that the remote site was unsustainable and would be car dependent, and that there was a high probability of flooding.

The Environment Agency and Pilning and Severn Beach Parish Council objected to the development.

A previous application for a single Gypsy/Traveller pitch was refused in 2022.