Fife Council’s plan for a dedicated stopover site for Gypsy Travellers on the outskirts of Crail is already causing serious concern in the area.
Two local businessmen have raised fears about the suitability of the former waste management area at Kilminning, with one saying the land could be contaminated a point denied by Fife Council.
The council’s housing committee approved proposals for the site on Tuesday, granting temporary permission for three years, on the condition planning permission is granted.
Two other sites at Cardenden and Cairneyhill were also approved despite opposition, with council officers saying official stopover sites could reduce the number of unauthorised encampments across Fife.
The committee heard while people in Cardenden and Cairneyhill were against the proposals, those in Crail had given it their “qualified support”.
That claim was soon rejected by Robert Watson, who runs a haulage firm near the Kilminning site, and William Robertson, owner of neighbouring Crail Airfield. Both spoke of a lack of consultation with the community and criticised the fact an unauthorised encampment had been on the site for months.
Mr Watson said consultation meetings had not been adequately publicised, which meant people had been unable to express their views. He added that his niece had drawn up a petition against the proposal and had gathered around 100 signatures but had not presented it to the council on time as she did not know when the decision was being made.
“The travelling people’s site will be right next door to my business,” he said. “People have already been camped there for two to three months and the place is in a disgusting state. It’s just a mess.”
Fife Council have promised the official sites will be well run and that officers will liaise closely with local people. However, Mr Watson was sceptical about this, saying: “I just don’t think it’s a good idea. There’s not going to be somebody permanently on the site to check people.
“A lot of Crailers are against this and feel if this goes ahead the travellers will cause more mess.”
Mr Robertson said the area earmarked for the travellers was the site of a former chemicals company and some of the land had been covered over by the council because of the risk of contamination.
“No one approached us to ask if we had any objections to this. They’re saying it will be well run but we don’t even know if anyone will be supervising it.”
Senior housing manager John Mills said the land in question was investigated by environmental services and found to be safe. He added that three meetings in Crail on the subject had been well publicised and well attended, and said local liaison groups were to be set up to help monitor the sites.
“People moving on to that site will have occupancy agreements with Fife Council and if they breach these we can move them on,” he said. “We will make sure there is a regular review of what’s going on and if things go awry we will intervene. Intervention might mean closure of the site.”