Fury as traveller family win fight to turn farm into gypsy camp despite 200 villagers complaining as Romany dad says 'we are not there to cause a crime wave'

A furious row has erupted after a traveller family won the right to turn a disused farm into a gypsy camp despite 200 objections from locals. 

Debbie Morris, who runs Beckingham Parish Council in Nottinghamshire, called the decision by Bassetlaw District Council ‘anti-democratic’.

She said: ‘Normally five objections to a planning matter is considered a red flag. 

"We have just over 600 properties in this village and there were 203 objections but it counted for nothing.

‘We all like to believe we live in a democratic society but when it comes to planning they don’t seem bothered by what the village wants. Even if every house had objected, they would still have passed it."

Romany Gypsy Barry Rodgers, 59, who owns the land, said it was to simply provide a home for himself, his son, daughter in law and five grandchildren.

Mr Rodgers told MailOnline: "I have brought my kids up with morals and the locals will soon see that we are not there to cause a crime wave."

The row centred on a proposal to turn a former strawberry farm to the side of a dual carriageway into a gypsy camp for two static and two mobile caravans.

Petitions went around the village warning that this was not only an inappropriate location for human habitation and unlikely to stop at just the four caravans.

The Parish Council that Mrs Morris heads, listed 12 objections to the development including traffic access, noise, smell and pollution as well as flooding and a rise in crime.

But on Wednesday night, six planning committee members backed the plan against two who opposed with one abstention.

One 69-year-old woman, who has lived 28 years in the village, said: ‘I did object. We just think it is not a suitable place for a traveller site.

‘We think there will be a lot of crime and people are worried about that. I would not trust them to stick to the plans and I think they will be disruptive to the village school with all their coming and going.’

However, Mr Rodgers, who has lived in the area all his life, insists he has done everything legally.

‘I have owned the land for years but I have not done anything to move on before the permission was obtained,’ he said. ‘I have done it all by the book.

‘I have been approached by six traveller families wanting to buy the land off me and move onto it without proper permission but I don’t want that kind of disruption for the village. I just want somewhere my grandkids can call home.’

Beckingham is a well-kept village close to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire with a 13th century church, a village green and a post office.

Although the village pub has gone along with the chip shop, Mrs Morris organises monthly ‘Owl on the Green’ open air pub nights as well as a weekly free lunch club and parties twice a year.

The former telephone box has been turned into a book exchange.

Mrs Morris added: ‘I don’t understand what the district council is thinking. They have already more than met their commitment to traveller sites in the district so there is no need for them to approve this but they bend over backwards for them.

‘The dual carriageway already floods and with more hard-standing in the neighbouring fields, that is only going to get worse.

‘And we see from other traveller camps in nearby towns like Retford the mess that is created. The police are frightened to get involved and there is just no come back.

‘By giving permission like they have, they set a precedent and how long before all the fields around here become traveller sites?

‘The village has been left with no voice. We might as well pack up the Parish Council.’

Another woman, who lives close to the development, agreed: ‘It is right next to a roundabout and not a good place to get in and out of,’ she said.

‘The thinking around the village is that it is supposed to be two plus two caravans but will it stop at that?

‘We have had a lot of trouble with stuff being stolen from us. This family might be perfectly okay but we just don’t know.

‘What annoyed us was that we’d wanted to build a house on land we own in a nearby village and could not get permission.’

But not everyone in Beckingham was joining in with the objections.

Nigel Ratcliffe, 64, said: ‘I think there are a lot of better things to object to. There has been a hell of a lot of house building round here recently, lots of outsiders moving in, but no extra facilities.

‘This is one family on the other side of the dual carriageway. I don’t think it will have any impact.’

And Mark Adams, 37, who runs an ‘honesty store’ in the village featuring eggs and vegetables, said: ‘I don’t expect any trouble. I’d live in a caravan myself if I could. 

'They are happy to put up houses all over the village so what’s wrong with four caravans?’

A 53-year-old dog walker added: ‘I have lived here a long time and this is a lovely village but people blow things out of proportion.

‘A post goes up on Facebook scaring people with blatant prejudice and everyone jumps on the bandwagon.

‘I have read what is actually proposed. I bet a lot of those 200 objectors have just read a scare story on Facebook.’

When MailOnline visited the site, which is just 100 yards from a roundabout on the busy A639, it was empty apart from two old caravans, and an historic farm outbuilding with a corrugated iron roof attached to a brick structure.

John Henry Jones, 57, a scrapman and friend of Mr Rodgers, said: ‘There have been caravans on this site for at least 12 years. The owner is a gentleman and he just wants to keep it clean and have somewhere for his grandkids.’

The plan is for the site to have an entry and exit point directly off the dual carriageway, which has a 50mph speed limit.

Mr Rodgers, whose grandchildren range in age from one to 13, admits the busy road is a concern but said: ‘My grandchildren will never be crossing that road. That would not be safe.

‘We very much want the children to attend the local school. 

‘You cannot tar everyone with the same brush. I am a Romany and have lived around here all my life. I can promise you this site is just for us.’