PLANS to extend a gipsy caravan site near Stainforth have sparked a row over the borough's green belt.
Doncaster Council is being asked to decide whether to allow an extra 10 travellers' caravans to be added to the existing Riverside Mobile Home Park, at Kirkhouse Green Road, Kirkhouse Green.
The borough has already been told it has to create nearl
y 100 new plots for gipsies and travellers to live in Doncaster.
Under the plans put forward at Kirkhouse Green all the spaces would be taken up by members of the same family who already live in the area.
But the scheme has left nearby Moss Parish Council worried about the effects on the borough's countryside.
Moss Parish Council has raised objections because its members say the site is not designated for residential purposes. They claim it is already too big, and is unrepresentative of the rural community. They are now contacting the Campaign to Protect Rural England to warn them of their concerns.
A statement from the parish council sent to borough planners said: "CPRE is making current efforts to protect green belt in the Doncaster East area and members propose to draw this matter to their attention, particularly in relation to the Special Scientific Interest status, and lobby their support to prevent further extensions to this site."
Doncaster Council planning officers are recommending the scheme is given the green light when it goes before the borough's planning committee next Tuesday, even though plans for a bigger extension to the caravan park were turned down in 2006.
Doncaster has one of the largest gipsy and traveller populations in the country although most now live in houses.
A survey this year estimated there was a need for 94 more caravan pitches across Doncaster over the period 2006-2011.
A council report stated: "It is clear that there is a current short term need which needs to be met and this proposal would make a significant contribution to meeting that need."
It added: "This application proposes an extension to an already well-established authorised gipsy caravan park specifically to accommodate family members of existing residents. Its extension would meet an identified unmet need."
Three extensions to council owned sites in Armthorpe, Thorne, and Long Sandall, have already been granted outline planning permission to help meet the shortage of sites.
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