Gypsy and Traveller site near Thame refused permission

South Oxfordshire District Council decided the ‘intentional unauthorised development’ of a 12-pitch Traveller site on land south-west of London Road near Tetsworth is not allowed to remain.

A retrospective planning application for the work, which had already taken place on the site, was submitted to the council last September.

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More than 120 objections were submitted to the council during the public consultation, with a further 24 submitted with a petition from Tetsworth Parish Council against its approval.

The ‘unauthorised’ development of the Gypsy and Traveller site near Tetsworth (Image: South Oxfordshire District Council)

Objections were also received from statutory consultees like the highway authority, flood authority, Environment Agency and Natural England and from several of the district council’s own departments.

Officers recommended the application be refused on the grounds of landscape, highways, flooding, contamination, noise and issues around biodiversity.

The application came after the district council had launched an enforcement investigation into the use of the land as a Gypsy and Traveller site without planning permission.

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This unauthorised development included the laying of hard standing, utility pipes and cables, the formation of an access road off the A40 and the use of the land as a residential caravan site.

A total of 12 mobile homes, 12 touring caravans and 12 utility rooms had been set up on the site, for use by 12 families.

Two previous applications for the same development were submitted and refused by the council in 2015 and 2018, and then considered at appeal over eight days at a public inquiry in 2019.

The planning inspector dismissed both appeals.