A TRAVELLER family is asking council officers for permission to remain on a currently unauthorised site with five pitches in Wimboldsley.

Resident Brian Hannifin has submitted a retrospective planning application to Cheshire West and Chester Council for the pitches to stay on land off Nantwich Road, next to the West Coast railway line.

In his planning application, the agent representing Mr Hannifin highlights a need for 16 new permanent pitches by 2030 across Cheshire West in order for the council to meet its requirement of a five-year supply under national planning policy.

Larissa Jennings said: “The council has to accept that it does not have a five-year supply of gypsy and traveller sites and currently has a need to provide multiple pitches.

“It should be noted that in this instance the occupants of the site do not have access to alternative pitch provision.”

Ms Jennings adds that there are young children living on the site as well as an elderly relative, who would be ‘particularly vulnerable to the Covid-19 outbreak’ and need a ‘settled base’.

She also points out that the traveller community is ‘one of the borough’s disadvantaged groups’ – suffering with lower life expectancy and poorer health than other residents.

The site, which was previously used as a railway storage area, is not in the green belt and is next to four derelict houses.

Each pitch can contain one mobile home and one touring caravan, while the site includes hard standing and fencing, and a septic tank capable of treating waste for up to 18 people.

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The plans submitted to CWAC suggest Mr Hannifin’s family have been living on the site since July 28.

Residents can comment on the plans until Saturday, September 12.

To view the proposal search for ‘20/02691/FUL’ on CWAC’s planning website.