HC Deb 24 July 1991 vol 195 cc1268-70 10.36 pm
Mr. Richard Page (Hertfordshire, South-West)

Mr. Deputy Speaker, you know what a pleasure it is for me to present this petition to the House this evening. The petition is addressed to the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.

It states: The Humble Petition of the residents of, and those having recreational, educational or commercial interests in, Langlebury and the surrounding area. Sheweth That it is proposed to provide a 15-pitch gypsy caravan site on Land at Langlebury Lane, Langlebury, Hertfordshire, and that we, the undersigned, vigorously protest against this proposal for the following reasons. The reasons are that the land concerned is green belt land. The two councils involved, bearing in mind that the Caravan Sites Act was passed in 1968, have taken 23 years to reach a decision and the residents of Langlebury believe that the site is being imposed, without proper consideration or evaluation. Therefore, it seems wrong and undemocratic to permit the unsuitable development to be pursued on the basis of deeming planning consent and allegedly unsafe information supplied to the Department of the Environment without holding an independent inquiry.

The petition continues: Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House will urge the Secretary of State for Environment to restrain Hertfordshire County Council from proceeding with the aforementioned proposal unless and until:

  1. 1. The disputed statements made by Hertfordshire County Council regarding the following crucial points have been independently and impartially verified:
    1. (a) The load-bearing capacity and settlement rate of the landfill on the alternative Tolpits Lane site with respect to its suitability to support gypsy site structures.
    2. (b) The present attitude of the Tolpits Lane site with respect to the risk of flooding.
    3. (c) the relative distances of the Tolpits Lane and Langlebury Lane sites from the nearest authentic social, medical and shopping facilities.
    4. (d) The number of vehicles which have to mount the Langlebury Lane pavement (in school term time) because much of the roadway is too narrow for wide vehicles to pass.
    5. (e) It is proved that the Langlebury Lane site falls within the 'urban' fringe category required by Hertfordshire County Council's own guidelines for siting gypsy camps.
  2. 2. An impartial and independent scrutiny of the above information, once verified, still leads to the conclusion that 1270 the agricultural land at Langlebury Lane is more suitable than the spare land at Tolpits Lane for development of a permanent gypsy site.
And your Petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray etc.

To lie upon the Table.