AFTER 10 years, a controversial gypsy caravan site in Darwen has finally been granted planning permission.

A heated exchange was held between members of Blackburn with Darwen Council’s planning committee on Thursday evening, over the future of Oakhill Caravan Park in Lower Eccleshill Road.

James Young applied for the continued use of the 0.5 hectare site for 17 pitches - two with large ‘static’ caravans, and the remainder large ‘travelling’ caravans.

Eccleshill Parish Council wrote an objection to the plan, expressing concerns about the site’s “extremely unpleasant” apparance and the effluent system, and bosses at St Regis paper mill voiced concerns about the effect of their emissions on the residents.

Darwen Mayor Councillor Paul Browne, a member of the planning committee, objected to the proposal.

He said: “I was spellbound when I went round the site on Tuesday and saw a bunch of caravans up there - they were prefabricated bungalows, not caravans.

“If anybody else in this borough did something like that, we’d be on to them like a ton of bricks. It’s wrong that we’ve been recommended to approve it.”

He added: “It’s not giving any trouble in the area, there’s no noise or nuissance, but it’s the way it’s been done.

“It’s making this borough a laughing stock.”

Councillor Jacqueline Slater added: “I do have a lot of sympathy for Coun Browne, but it’s been here 10 years, and to me, we can’t do a lot about it.

“But who will police that there’s only going to be 17 pitches, and why aren’t they paying council tax? They certainly aren’t travellers.”

A council officer told the meeting that planning enforcement officers would check that there was only the Government-allowed two caravans per pitch on the site, and that a two-metre tall accoustic fence was erected at the resident’s cost.