The pretty UK village facing huge change as travellers make key move

Local residents in a quaint UK have expressed concerns over a traveller site in the area after a planning application to change the land use was submitted. Felmersham in has a population of just 800, but this grew in recent weeks after a group of travellers moved into a field that they own off Pavenham Road.

The attracted its residents with its rolling hills and quiet streets, but there are now fears that this could change as a plot of agricultural land could become a designated traveller site. If approved, the new site would allow for five residential pitches containing 11 mobile homes and four touring caravans, as well as the groundworks and landscaping needed to get it up and running. Some locals are not happy with the prospect of having the travellers as their neighbours.

One of the travellers stressed that they are complying with the Bedford Borough Council's Temporary Stop Notice, which was served on April 14 over a believed "breach of planning control", the notice said.

He told the Express that they "just want somewhere to live like everyone else", and questioned where the council would have them move to if they were forced to vacate the land that they own.

He explained that they planned to make the track leading into the field much safer, as it is currently muddy and slippery - one of the residents' concerns.

However, the Temporary Stop Notice currently prohibits them from spreading stones, gravel, or tarmac on the land.

One concerned resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said she heard the travellers move in on April 12 and thought it was people fixing potholes, but two days later, "there were loads of them".

She added: "I think the general consensus in the village is that we don't want them there ... Obviously they need somewhere to live, but they've gone about it the wrong way."

The resident also claimed that she can always hear the generator whirring as the travellers are not yet hooked up to the grid, and she was not the only one to raise this.

After living in quiet Felmersham for 27 years, a third local said, "Suddenly overnight there's noise", with the sound of the generator humming in the background as she spoke on her doorstep.

She also claimed to be able to hear the voices of the people on the site.

The planning application to change the land from agricultural to a traveller site is currently in the consultation period, which ends on May 15.

Residents have been quick to object, with one writing that approving the application would allow a "significant and intrusive change". The applicants admitted that there "would be some harm", but it would be extremely limited.

Bedford Borough Council said it does not comment on live planning applications.