Newark and Sherwood District Council to apply for government funding to help with Gypsy and Traveller provision

Work on Gypsy and Traveller provision in Newark and Sherwood goes on, with a council to apply for government funding this month and public consultation set for the summer.

A number of sites have already been identified ­— 69 of the 118 needed ­— which will only just satisfy the need for the next five to ten years, not the ten to 15 required.

They are Chestnut Lodge in Barnby, which can accommodate 20 pitches; the old Belvoir Ironworks to the south of Newark, which could accommodate 30; and Trent Lane, which would accommodate 19. The other two haven’t been publicly identified.

Council leader David Lloyd previously said Newark and Sherwood District Council needed £8.4m to cover the cost of its provision, and the government had allocated just £10m with councils able to claim a maximum of £1m of that.

At a cabinet meeting, Mr Lloyd said: “[We may receive] the maximum amount, it might be we do not require that, but colleagues will know the number of times we’ve called for sites — there are those that have been identified, four or five depending on how you want to look at it.

“There’s one site in particular that could progress and we need to look into that.”

He told colleagues the authority was continuing talks with the Environment Agency with regard to the Tolney Lane area to implement flood alleviation and emergency flood withdrawal.

He said if the council could remediate some of those sites, that it would revisit those pitches without planning permission and ask them to vacate.

There are around 400 pitches currently in Newark and Sherwood, the majority of which are on Tolney Lane. The council will only look to add to them if highway safety improvements can be made so residents can better evacuate in times of flood.

The council hopes to have its provision plan ready for public consultation throughout July/August/September, before it is then submitted to the Secretary of State.