Council threatens to seize land for travellers

A district council in Derbyshire has threatened to seize land from the county authority if it does not agree to hand it over to house local travellers.

In a letter written last week to the county council's Reform UK leaders, seen by the BBC, Derbyshire Dales District Council's chief executive says it could pursue compulsory purchase powers over the land on Watery Lane in Ashbourne if an agreement is not reached.

Both councils have for decades wrestled with the issue of finding a permanent site for the traveller families, who they are obliged to provide for under homelessness laws.

The county council has called the threat "heavy-handed, undemocratic, and deeply concerning for local residents".

The district council - run by a coalition of Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green councillors - gave potential legal action the green light at a meeting earlier this month.

Over the years temporary sites have been used on a recurring basis across the area and the authority currently has temporary planning permission for travellers to reside at Matlock railway station car park.

It previously rejected its own plans for a plot in Rowsley and paused works into temporary plots in Matlock Bath and Middleton by Wirksworth.

More travellers are temporarily residing in Ashbourne, close to the proposed permanent site.

The issue has taken on more urgency in the run-up to local government reorganisation, whereby councils will merge and the district will cease to exist.

The district also needs to finalise a local plan for its housing needs by December.

In a letter to county council leaders sent on 21 May, the district council said it considered land at Watery Lane in Ashbourne to be the most suitable location for a permanent site, after more than a decade of unsuccessful searches.

It argues the Watery Lane site meets planning criteria, is already allocated in its local plan and could be delivered relatively quickly and at lower cost than continuing temporary arrangements.

However, Derbyshire County Council has recently declined to release the land, citing "strategic plans".

These are understood to be the potential for the land to be used as part of a by-pass road in Ashbourne, plans for which were recently put on hold indefinitely.

The district council is now urging the county council to enter talks on either leasing the land - a proposal recycled from years gone by - or selling it.

If no agreement is reached, councillors have authorised legal advice on pursuing a compulsory purchase order.

The cost to the public purse would be tens of thousands of pounds if legal action is pursued - the council has set aside at least £20,000 for legal action.

The leader of the county council Alan Graves said he was "very disappointed" with the legal threat from the Dales.

"At the end of the day, it's a county council piece of land, it's got an encampment of the Gypsies which shouldn't be there, and they want to buy it off us so they can keep those Gypsies there," he said, in reference to the fact a family already resides nearby.

"The majority of people, law-abiding people, don't like it when these camps materialise in their areas, and we will not let them have that piece of land.

"The council also knows that they won't be a council in a year or two's time. And so they're trying to get this in before they're not a council anymore."

But the Liberal Democrat councillor for Ashbourne North, Peter Dobbs, said the district council had earmarked the site as one of the best options for a permanent site for over a decade.

"We have our own criteria for traveller sites and as it happens this ticks some of the boxes... it's a long way from where people live, to be honest. That is a key factor.", he said.

"I think the objective [of the compulsory purchase threat] was to convince all concerned that we are serious about trying to find a site.

"We have spent a great deal of money on consultants looking elsewhere. Most of the sites that we found are either very expensive or totally unsuitable.

"The sums in money involved in any legal action would almost certainly be very small compared with the cost of outright purchase of a site on the open market elsewhere."

Derbyshire Dales District Council did not wish to comment.

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