VILLAGERS have raised a series of objections to a proposed travellers' site between Rufforth and York.

More than 100 residents attended a public meeting in the village today to discuss proposals outlined in City of York Council’s latest draft Local Plan, which include a 30-pitch site close to Harewood Whin landfill dump.

They agreed at the end to set up an action group to fight the proposals.

York Outer MP Julian Sturdy, who organised the meeting, claimed the council’s estimation of how many new pitches were needed in York was over-inflated and claimed the site was also totally inappropriate.

One villager said he thought there could be up to 100 children living there and asked which school they would go to, and Mr Sturdy said traveller children would face great danger in walking to the school in Rufforth.

Parish councillor Colin Valentine outlined a series of reasons why residents could object to the site.

He said an adjacent site was previously offered for use as a traveller site but was rejected by the city council for being 'out of character with the surrounding area,’ and the same argument applied with the new site.

He said the previous plan was also rejected for being too close to the landfill site under recommendations from Peter Brett Associates, who were commissioned by the council to look at whether pieces of land were appropriate for use as a travellers' site under Government planning policy. Cllr Valentine said the new site was even closer to Harewood Whin.

He said council planners had designated a 'green corridor' along the B1224 between Rufforth and York to maintain the integrity of the Green Belt and the site would be within that corridor, and some of the site was in a flood zone, according to an Environment Agency map, and was  therefore unsuitable for residential use.

Local councillor Chris Steward claimed the council had overestimated demand for new traveller sites, saying ten of the families identified as needing a pitch currently lived in homes of bricks and mortar.

Mr Sturdy said he understood that the site had been put forward by a landowner who was ‘sympathetic' to travellers, and Mike Slater, Assistant Director of City and Environmental Services, later confirmed this when given the opportunity by The Press to comment on claims made at the meeting.

He said: “This site has been proposed by the Gypsy and Traveller community themselves and is large enough to accommodate substantial landscaping and appropriate screening along the B1224 frontage.

“Meanwhile, assessment work is ongoing in relation to the suitability, viability and deliverability of sites for which local planning authorities have a duty through their Local Plan to identify.”