Cottingley Springs - Pickles calls it in!

The controversial decision by Labour Leeds City Council to grant Planning Permission to expand Cottingley Springs Travellers site has been called in by the Secretary of State - Eric Pickles MP - for a final decision. This means that planning permission has NOT been granted for expansion and that Labour Leeds City Councils £1 million windfall to finance the expansion plan now hangs by a slim thread!

What are we to make of this call in decision?

We have consistently said that the application breaches both National and Local planning policy. It breaches the NPPF. Labour Leeds City Councils policy for Travellers has been thrown out by the Inspector examining Labours LDF as he found it incoherent! Labour has no plan B and their plans don't even have the full support of Travellers themselves or of GATE - the Travellers campaign group.

Everyone now appreciates that Labours Dumping Policy - in areas that aren't under Labour control - is flawed. Even the Travellers themselves are arguing for smaller family run sites across Leeds as the expansion of Cottingley Springs is likely to make the problem worse for many of the residents already living there.

Its is therefor clear that Labours attempt at a political stitch up is coming apart at the seams! As they have no Plan B then money that could have been used for smaller family run Traveller sites is likely to be lost and the additional costs of unauthorised sites dumped on local Taxpayers because Labours is obsessed with keeping Travellers out of Labour Wards.

Just as an interesting postscript on a similar relevant planning matter. A small Family run Traveller site proposed for Sandon Mount in Hunslet - which was due to be approved earlier this month - was pulled by Planning Chiefs on the day it was to be discussed. Hunslet is a Labour Ward. Who could have predicted that!

Eric Pickles will have the final say on this application after it is considered by a Public Inquiry. He is likely to refuse it as it is development in the Greenbelt and even some Planning Department Insiders can't see how it can possibly get through.

We need a Plan B and that means Labour Wards taking some of the new smaller Family run Traveller sites. We in Morley have already taken our fair share - its time for Labour to do the same!