Oxfordshire village traveller site refused permission again

The application for four Gypsy and Traveller pitches on land at Wattle Cottage Farm by The George at Upton pub on Prospect Road in Upton, near Didcot, has been refused by the Vale of White Horse District Council.

Each pitch would comprise one mobile home and one touring caravan, together with space for parking and manoeuvring, as well as two shipping containers for storage relating to keeping horses.

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It relates to an enforcement investigation launched in June 2024, following the erection of four unauthorised chalet buildings for residential use on the same site.

The land backs on to The George at Upton pub (Image: Google)

The applicant claimed that the chalet buildings are the same as the four mobile homes proposed in the application due to their size, and said they could be moved to specified locations if and when planning permission was granted.

But the council’s planning officers found the structures built on the land were vastly different to mobile homes, as they were constructed on purpose built concrete and brick foundations with in-laid services and are permanent timber structures including verandas, decking and covered porches.

The farmland and equestrian site in Upton has a long planning history related to different uses of the land dating back to 2002.

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Objections were received on the latest application from Upton and Chiltern Parish Councils, and specialist officers for ecology, drainage and landscape.

The Environment Agency objected in principal to the development as the site is in flood zone 3b, a functional floodplain, defined as having a high probability of flooding.

Along with the Joint Oxfordshire Resilience Team and the council’s emergency planner, the agency’s objection said the site is too vulnerable to flooding to make it safe for residential use.

A further 52 objections were received from the public during consultation, quoting a range of issues taken with the plan.

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Concerns included that this new plan was ‘not materially different’ for the similar application refused permission last September, as well as the impact of the proposed use of the site on the ‘character and amenity of the village’.

The council’s planning officer said: “In my opinion, the lack of a five-year supply of gypsy and traveller sites, to which I give significant weight, together with the personal circumstances of the applicant and his family, to which I also attached significant weight, do not outweigh the planning harm of the proposed development.”

The application was refused on the grounds of the harm it would cause to the North Wessex Downs natural landscape and because of flood risk, highway safety, loss of biodiversity, the value of the countryside and the intentional, unauthorised nature of the development.