Plans for a static Gypsy and traveller site in a Suffolk village have been refused by West Suffolk Council.

First submitted in May 2022, the plans for land off Sedge Fen Road proposed a change of use to a "Gypsy and traveller site".

The 0.54 hectare site would have housed six static caravan pitches and associated dayrooms.

Lakenheath Parish Council had objected to the application arguing that it had been submitted following enforcement action by officers over a period of four years.

In West Suffolk Council's decision notice, the parish council feared it could open the way for further sites, stating that a "potentially successful application has prompted the appearance of two further sites in the parish".

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The council's planning officer added that "insufficient information" was provided to demonstrate that "all of the intended occupants of the proposed pitches would comply with the definition of a Gypsy or traveller defined in Planning Policy for Traveller Sites".

They also raised issues surrounding the "incongruous" development impacting the landscape and said the site was an area at high risk of flooding.