Gypsy site outrage

OUTRAGED residents in Rooksbridge say they may not pay their council taxes, after the district council announced it was spending £600,000 on a site for two gypsy families.

The war between the council and residents is over a piece of land called The Paddocks off Mendip Road.

At a Sedgemoor District Council meeting councillors decided to spend £600,000 of taxpayers’ money on revamping the site for two families to live on.

Linda Kear, who lives opposite the site in Rookery Close, said: “It is an obscene amount of money to spend on just two families.

“Since we found out, several residents have told me they are thinking about stopping paying their council tax.

“One of the families the council is providing for is only there 10 per cent of the time anyway. If Sedgemoor District Council says it is providing the site because they have nowhere else to go, it is an outrage as they clearly do.

“£600,000 is more than double what they originally thought it would be. Residents were told it was estimated to cost around £250,000.”

Mrs Kear, aged 52, has lived near the site for almost nine years, and says she was told when she moved in that the travellers at the site were being moved on by the council and they would be out in three months.

She added: “I want to know exactly what they plan to spend the money on. New road access has to be built and the site will be shielded from view with either a wall or hedge but that can’t possibly amount to £600,000. I will be contacting the council to get a full breakdown of what is being spent.”

A spokesman for Sedgemoor District Council said: “The majority of the cost is from the noise reducing work which has to be properly engineered. Given the proximity to the M5 the highways agency says additional works need to be done.

“The council agreed to allocated£600,000 of funding to the project.

“A permanent site for two families and large area of open space is provided for the 164 residents of Rooksbridge.”