A CONTROVERSIAL gypsy and travellers’ site at a wartime airfield near a Selby village should be approved, planners have said.

Selby District Council’s planning committee has been recommended to back the authority’s own proposals to create 15 pitches, as well as amenity, office and community buildings, on part of Burn Airfield, saying it is needed to meet its responsibility to provide a five-year supply of accommodation for travellers.

The plans – which could cost £940,000 and have already been submitted and withdrawn once – have led to a wave of local opposition.

Residents’ group Burn Against New Site commissioned a report by a barrister which said a series of issues had not been properly addressed and the travellers’ site could be placed elsewhere. It said that if planning permission is granted, with a decision due next Wednesday, a legal challenge would have a “very good chance” of succeeding.

Brayton Parish Council has also objected and North Yorkshire Police has said Inspector Richard Abbott, the officer responsible for policing in Burn, still has concerns about the site. The force said travellers already living in Burn had hinted that travelling families coming into the area from elsewhere could create “tension and conflict”, potentially leading to “policing difficulties”.

The Environment Agency has now withdrawn its opposition over drainage issues, while 108 letters from the public about the application have been sent to the council. The reasons for objecting include Burn already having more than its share of travellers’ pitches, the possibility of more families living there than the council expects, and concerns over flooding, traffic and the site’s impact on local services. One opponent described the resubmitted plans as a “cut-and-paste job”.

A report by planning officer Richard Sunter said the Burn site would “undoubtedly provide a settled base” for travellers to access education and health services and prevent unauthorised camps being set up, while the half-mile distance between the site and the village would help prevent “any feeling of domination”. It said the site was considered suitable and there were a lack of alternatives. Any approval for the scheme will be subject to a decision on whether a public inquiry is held.