MORE than 200 residents packed out a public meeting to discuss how to fight plans for a travellers’ site in a York village.

But almost as many people were unable to get into the meeting at Dunnington’s Reading Rooms – the first of two held yesterday to discuss proposals in City of York Council’s draft Local Plan to allocate land in Common Lane for a 15-pitch site.

Now organisers have decided to hold two more meetings at the same venue, at 4.30pm and 7.30pm tomorrow, to ensure everyone who wants to attend gets a chance to do so.

Dunnington councillor Jenny Brooks urged all villagers to ensure their views were known to the local authority once a public consultation exercise gets under way on June 5.

Villagers spoke passionately of their opposition to the proposals, claiming the land was “totally inappropriate” for a travellers’ site.

One resident said it would be a “crying shame for the jewel in York’s crown” if a site was allowed, and another said it was vital for a green buffer zone to be maintained between the village and an industrial estate.

One resident claimed all villagers had lost money on their properties since the plans were drawn up, and another claimed the site would exacerbate existing drainage problems in the area, and lead to a ditch alongside the site backing up into the village.

Several backed calls for neighbouring Dunnington Sports Club to be able to expand on to the fields instead of having a travellers’ site, saying capacity was so tight on the club’s existing playing fields that some youngsters already played elsewhere.

Residents suggested the parish council should seek to buy the land, and parish chairman Alf Deuchars indicated this was one of a number of options that would be looked into, but said it was not known at this stage what it might be worth.

A Murton resident also warned of the problems his own village had experienced from a minority of residents at the travellers’ site in nearby Osbaldwick, which he claimed was badly run by City of York Council.