COUNCILLORS have voted against plans for a temporary site for gypsies and travellers in East Dorset.

Members of East Dorset District Council's policy and resources committee said that a proposed site at Avon Castle Chipping Store near Ringwood was "inappropriate".

There are no transit sites or temporary places in Dorset for travellers since the closure of Mannington Park.

The Avon Castle site was one of nine possible sites proposed by Dorset County Council.

Committee members supported officers who recommended the site be turned down on the grounds that it does not meet the requirements of local plan policy, which state sites must be near to local amenities such as shops and schools.

Cllr Queenie Comfort said: "I really feel this is a site which has so many things against it.

"It is too near the main A338 Road although I agree it is pushing it away from the green belt."

Cllr Anne Holland said: "We are very close to the conurbation. Bournemouth and Poole have as much responsibility as us."

Chairman of the National Romani Rights Association, Basil Burton, agreed that the Avon Castle Chipping Store site was unsuitable.

He added: "This local authority and Dorset County Council have completely ignored the central government legislation.

"All the proposed sites are tipping dumps or recycling depots. There is not one site that is suitable.

"There is an identified need for between 21 and 26 sites but there are only nine proposed.

"The gypsies are an ethnic group and unless something positive is done soon we will go to the European Court of Human Rights."

First published: May 25