Conservative Controlling Group vote to not apologise to Tansley Residents over Traveller site.
At a Council Meeting of Derbyshire Dales District Council on April 27th a motion to apologise to the residents of the village of Tansley near Matlock was narrowly defeated as all the Conservative Councillors voted against it.
However the Tory controlling group did acknowledge that their decision to pursue a site in Knabhall Lane Tansley was not going to proceed. They had been informed about problems with this site by Lib Dem Cllrs for the area back in September 2020. Then the Tansley site was presented as the 'best option' for both a temporary and permanent traveller site as we covered in a previous article.
This climb down vindicates the advice that we gave at the time.
The motion also suggested apologising to the Traveller family who have been stuck on Station Car Park Matlock for at least 20 months more than was needed. This was also rejected.
The exact total of Council Tax money spent investigating the suitability of Knabhall Lane as a site has yet to be published. Whatever the sum, it cannot be seen as money well spent.
This site was an option rushed through with little thought other than political expediency which has left considerable upset in Tansley where the Parish Council have had to invest a significant amount of time and money to fight the scheme.
An apology for both Tansley residents and the Traveller family is the least they should expect.
A fuller account of Council Meeting can be found here.