Green belt travellers site plans are back

PLANS to site travellers on green belt land — which were turned down after attracting more than 500 objections — have resurfaced.

Rotherham Borough Council refused an application for 12 travellers’ pitches off Chesterfield Road, Swallownest — near land earmarked for the £37 million Gulliver’s Valley theme park in April.

But now, a separate application has been submitted seeking permission for six pitches for the same patch of land.

A decision notice issued in April said the proposal of 12 pitches would represent an “inappropriate development in the green belt”.

It said: “The site is considered to be unsustainable, being located a significant distance from day-to-day facilities — such that future occupiers would be reliant on travel by car, further compounded by the lack of footpaths on the A57 Chesterfield Road.”

The development would be next to the Pithouse West site, where national chain Gulliver’s hope to build a theme park, adventure centre, glamping lodges, a hotel and a holiday village.