Update on the proposed permanent Gypsy site at
Old Fieldhouse Lane, off Leeds Road,
Huddersfield
.
If anyone has recently been in the area of the proposed site they will have noticed plenty of activity going on at the proposed site.
What looks to be ground preparation work, no building expert myself but possibly drainage?
Also a new road surface looks to have been put down, they must be pretty confident that planning permission will be granted, so been curious decided to call Kirklees myself to see if I could find out anything else.
I call planning they tell me what I already know, that a planning application has been received, so I asked who owned the land that they were wishing to occupy; she was not certain and told me to call a different department.
They confirmed that the land is owned by Kirklees Council, if Planning Permission is granted they will be obliged to sell or rent the land to the applicants. I ask if I could pick a piece of land submit planning permission, have it granted, would they be obliged to sell to me she said no. She said she knew no more but I could contact Craig Nixon who is dealing with the case.
Outline planning application can be seen here
http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/business/planning/Details.asp?id=2006/93311#Plans
Something seems not quite right here so I decide to call him.
I ask who has carried out the work on the road, was it the council or the applicants? he said that the Council were the applicants.
I ask if enough local residents and businesses appose the planning would we get anywhere? he said NO.
I ask will they pay ground rent or council tax or be made to keep the area clean and tidy? he said the finer points had not been discussed.
Surely the council should have been looking at these finer points, these are the things that the local residents and businesses want to know. Why should we as taxpayers be subsidising their living when they are putting nothing into the local community yet are happy to take out. They have use of our services, Fire, Ambulance, NHS, Police, Doctors & Waste Disposal, I was under the impression that our various taxes were to pay for these. So why do I bother to pay mine?
Some ten minutes later Mr Nixon calls me back and we have a lengthy conversation; he says "he was a little hasty in what he was telling me".
The application was placed by the Gypsy council not Kirklees, and we could appose to the planning but with valid opposition. Such as access, excess traffic. Not just the increased crime, waste, reduced value of homes and a general slide of the surrounding area, so I wonder what is a good opposition.
The road has been done because the councilsay they are making some form of holding depot at the Community Farm and the Gypsy site will be on the land which was formerly a scrap yard how fitting.
He said that it would be a cheaper option for the council as the Gypsies were a constant drain on resources due to moving them on. "They are a law to themselves and are unapproachable"
"They are a law to themselves and are unapproachable" 
If the Council really do think this way why would we want them here, do they think if they tuck them out of the way it is okay, well they will see.
I really do hope the Gypsies prove us wrong and are good and respected members of the community.
I honesty think the problem people have is that we do not know enough about their way of life, do they claim benefits, do they pay taxes, and if not where do they get their money from because caravans and cars do not come cheap. I know with no income I could not afford my Mortgage let alone food, clothes and household bills.
Maybe somebody could post a response and let us know the real facts. | 
