Councillors vote down Gypsy and Traveller site

Councillors have slammed their own council for not telling them what was happening with plans for a Gypsy and Traveller transit site.
As well as their complaint about a lack of transparency members of Denbighshire’s communities committee voted down the council’s preferred sites.
Earlier this week the council announced its list of possible sites for a proposed Gypsy and Traveller sites.
The sites include Rhuallt – land off Holywell road at Rhuallt, the former school field at Rhuallt, land off the B5429 at Rhuallt and two plots of land on the Henllan Road in Denbigh.
Members of the committee were asked to comment on how the final site would be chosen but they were angry about how they found out about the plans and what they said was a lack of consultation.
They also voted to ask the council to withdraw the list of sites but this decision is not binding.
Upper Denbigh and Henllan county councillor, Geraint Lloyd-Williams, said: “These two sites have a tenant at the moment and that man rang me distraught, he knew nothing about it.
“Why was it just announced because it was going out to the press and the public? Why wasn’t he spoken to?”
Officers said they while they do consult with local councillors they would not do so with tenants until a decision was made to avoid upsetting the tenant.
Cllr Glenn Swingler who also represents the Denbigh ward that contains two of the proposed sites, said: “It’s a transit site and you want to put it on the Denbigh to Henllan road which is way off the transit route. They will not use that site.
“I’m very disappointed that we have not done any work that we have not done any work with the Gypsy and Traveller groups. We’re going to go through a whole lot of work without consulting anybody. There has been no consultation on this at all.”
And Tremeirchion county councillor, Christine Marston, whose ward includes the Rhuallt sites, said: “Rhuallt is a small rural community, it’s a village with no amenities, no shops, no doctors, no main sewage or gas. Such services can be found in St Asaph or Rhuddlan. There is very limited public transport and the local school is oversubscribed. The impact of a transit site on such a small community would be devastating.”
Councillors voted to recommend that the sites be withdrawn when the issue comes before Denbighshire’s cabinet.

By Shane Brennan – Local Democracy Reporter