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Community stand-off over traveller site work

BBC Stafford Borough Councillor Alec Sandiford on Stallington Road just next to the site where work is being carried out. BBC
Stafford councillor Alec Sandiford said he had received dozens of complaints about the work

Local residents and a traveller community in Staffordshire are at a stand-off over unauthorised work being carried out on green belt land.

Simon McDonagh said he bought the land, off Stallington Road in Blythe Bridge, after his family were forced to move on from their previous settlement in Uttoxeter.

No planning permission was submitted to Stafford Borough Council before work started on 6 December to lay down hardcore and put up fencing.

The local authority said a stop notice had been ignored and it was now escalating its enforcement action.

Local residents told BBC Radio Stoke they were worried about the uncertainty of a new community coming in, and carrying out unlawful work.

Stafford Borough councillor Alex Sandiford, who represents the Fulford ward, described it as a "nightmare situation".

He said he had received dozens of complaints from residents, who described feeling distressed.

Hardcore being laid down and fencing put up on land off Stallington Road.
Hardcore has been laid and fencing put up on land off Stallington Road

However, Mr McDonagh urged residents to give the families involved a chance.

Ultimately, the plan is for four pitches on the land, for four families to settle there.

Defending his decision to go ahead and use the land without council permission he said he accepted it had made people uneasy.

"It's a week and a half before Christmas. There's 15 kids living on site. Everybody deserves a chance," he said.

"I know yes the local people might think it's the wrong way about it, but it's either we put down some hardstanding or we're walking in and out of our own muck.

"It will be going through the planning procedures - I think the council will make the right decision."

Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, Allison Gardner standing on Uttoxeter Road in Blythe Bridge.
Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South Allison Gardner said there were no easy solutions

Stafford Borough Council and the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South are working together to support the local residents. The next step will be to enforce a court injunction.

MP Allison Gardner said: "There's no easy solutions with this one, we have to work within the law. We've got to support that [traveller] community as well as the local community to address the impact."

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