Council rapped over lack of gypsy sites

John Buck has been told he can keep his mobile home and touring caravan on a site bordering the countryside on the village's Station Road, along with a stable block and an amenity block.

The council had previously told him he could only stay on the land he had his heart set on on a short term basis.

He has finally been given the all clear to stay after taking the council to an appeal. The authority failed to make a decision on the matter, which had been in its hands since March 2006.

The matter had previously gone to planners as long ago as 1998, and had been turned down. But the caravans were given temporary permission to stay in 2002 until an alternative site could be found.

Now Department for Communities and Local Government inspector Claire Sherratt has ruled Mr Buck can stay on the site permanently with his wife and four children.

And she said: "There is a significant unmet need for gypsy and traveller sites generally in the area."

It had previously been claimed that Mr Buck's caravans were harmful to the character of the area, and the council had raised concerns the scheme encroached into the countryside, but this was rejected by the inspector.

She said Doncaster needed an extra 106 pitches for gypsies and travellers by 2011, and the biggest demand was for private sites in the north east of the borough rather than council sites.

Mr Buck told a public inquiry he was adamant he did not want to live on a council site. The hearing also heard there was a 17 month waiting list for the council's sites.