PLANS have been submitted for a traveller site at Piddlehinton near Dorchester.

Dorset County Council has submitted a planning application for a temporary site for up to 25 caravans for three years.

The site proposed, on land adjacent to the Piddlehinton Enterprise Park, was used as a temporary site in the summer of 2012 when the county hosted the Olympic sailing events.

The council has submitted an application because a countywide plan for permanent sites in Dorset, which it has been working on in conjunction with other local councils, is not expected to be ready for adoption until late 2016 at the earliest.

The Piddlehinton site will be in operation for six months a year until August 2017 and will provide the authorities with a facility where they can direct those who set up unauthorised encampments around the county.

It would become the second traveller site in operation in the village, which already has a permanent site.

Local county councillor Jill Haynes said she understood that a transit site was needed and Dorset did need somewhere to move unauthorised campers on to.

However, she questioned whether Piddlehinton was the right location for this site and vowed that if it is to go ahead she will be pushing for all available security measures to be put in place to alleviate the concerns of local residents and businesses.

Coun Haynes said: “As far as I’m concerned we do, I believe, have to have a site but I would rather it was not at Piddlehinton and I want security measures if we do have the site to make sure it is not an affliction on local residents.”