Newark Town Council planning committee raise flood and contamination concerns over permanent plans for traveller site on tolney Lane, Newark.

Concerns of the safety of residents have been raised over plans to make a Newark traveller site with flood and contamination risks permanent.

The site, at Park View Caravan Park, on Tolney Lane, was previously used as an abattoir until the mid-90s, and over the years various applications have been put forward.

Temporary permission was granted for named individuals to live on the site, and this permission has continually been extended.

Now, the latest application has been submitted to make the whole site permanent, rather than only for those previously named individuals.

In 2022, Newark Town Council objected to similar plans on the grounds flooding posed a risk to life.

At the latest planning committee meeting, Barbara Corrigan suggested that the latest application should be objected to for the same reasons, adding: “To me it is fundamentally wrong to permanently allocate floodplain, knowingly, for residential use.

“I just want them to have somewhere to live permanently that is safe.”

Laurence Goff was staunch in his support for the application and the traveller community as a whole.

He said: “These people have nowhere to go, and they think everyone is against them.

“I’m sick and tired of people saying there is on a floodplain. We know that and they know that, but they choose to live there and know the risks.

“At the moment, they don’t know how long they’re going to be there for from one year to the next. It’s very frustrating.”

Neil Ross added: “I share Councillor Goff’s frustration, the Gypsies and Traveller community is as much a part of this town as any of us.

“But it’s not just flooding, it’s ‘risk to life’ flooding.”

A district environmental health officer has also advised that as the site had previously been used as an abattoir, this is a potentially contaminative use”.

It was added that no previous study or preliminary risk assessment had yet been submitted, and therefore “phased contamination conditions” should be attached to the planning consent.

This was a topic of particular concern among councillors who felt uncomfortable granting permanent permission for the site due to potential health risk resulting from contamination.

Deputy committee chairman Tom Collier, said: “I see the point that if they are already living there for a number of years, then why not make it permanent?

“But at the same time if there is contamination and at a time when other alternative sites are being investigated.

Sophie Dickinson argued that “giving permission for that land will be treating them like second class citizens.

“By not allowing them to stay there, then we are actually protecting them.

“If that land was cleared and made safe I don’t think anyone would be against this.”

A suggestion was then made to maintain the status quo “for the safety of the community”, with the committee voted to object to the plans, four votes to two.

A final decision will be made by Newark and Sherwood District Council, who are also under pressure to meet their traveller site allocations targets set out by government.