Traveller site set for rejection over rural impact

Plans for a group of travellers to make a plot of land their permanent home are expected to be turned down by councillors.

The site at Saham Toney, near Watton in Norfolk, had previously faced enforcement action from Breckland District Council after 23 caravans were moved onto it.

Lisa Jay, who has lived there for more than 15 years, has since applied to turn the small plot into a permanent site for 12 families.

But council officers have raised concerns about the impact on the countryside, and are advising the planning committee to reject the proposal when they meet next Tuesday.

Following the enforcement action in 2025, Jay sought planning permission for the land at Otterwood Kennels on Dereham Road to become a permanent traveller site.

The proposals were discussed by the planning committee in May, where Jay's agent said the families looking to move in already lived in Norfolk or had relatives in the county.

Mark Simmonds said they were living "precarious and insecure lives" and had suffered because of a "catastrophic policy failure" by Breckland to provide enough traveller pitches.

A report by council officers conceded there was "a clear and evidenced unmet need for Gypsy and traveller accommodation" with a need for 66 to 71 more pitches by 2046.

Despite that, the plans were recommended for rejection at the time, with officers raising concerns about safety on the A1075 and the loss of mature hedgerows.

Councillors delayed making a decision as they said they needed more information about landscaping and road access to the site.

However, an updated report by officers still advises that the proposal should be turned down.

It warned the site would become a "harmful and urbanising form of development in an open countryside location", while cutting back hedgerows and trees would cause "unacceptable harm".

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