An "unmet need" for traveller camps could see the number of itinerant families staying in a quiet village triple overnight. Planning chiefs may allow the expansion of a private traveller site in Station Road, Draycott in the Clay

The consultants hoping to get the move through claim there are not enough places for itinerants to stay in East Staffordshire.

And they think that should carry "substantial weight" when East Staffordshire Borough Council planning committee's makes its decision.

In the meantime, those living nearby have until Friday, October 13, to register official objections to plan to extend the site.

The latest development comes four-and-a-half years after applicant "Mssrs J & H Boswell & Sykes" first tried to create a travellers' camp on the land.

Planners at East Staffordshire Borough Council threw out the proposals, which were for five pitches, amid road safety and flooding concerns about highway safety and flood risk.

Revised plans for just two pitches were subsequently drawn up and approved on appeal.

As part of the new application, planning consultant Philip Brown, said: "The inspector for the 2014 appeal had new evidence from a highway consultant and flood expert on which to base his decision.

"He found that the site was an appropriate location for a gypsy site in principle, and that there were no overriding landscape, flood risk or highways impacts sufficient to warrant a refusal of planning permission.

"The restrictions on the number of pitches and caravans merely reflected the proposals put forward at the time of the appeal, upon which the inspector's decision was based.

"The inspector considered that the site is a reasonably sustainable location for a gypsy site, balancing the distance to community services and facilities – about 2km – with the benefits for gypsies and travellers of having a settled base.

"The inspector found that there is a substantial identified and unmet need for gypsy and traveller sites in the borough.

"As far as I am aware, no additional gypsy pitches have been provided in East Staffordshire since that time and the unmet need should carry substantial weight in favour of approval.

"In my opinion, increasing the number of pitches would address that unmet need without affecting either highway safety or flood risk."

If the committee approves the plans, there will be three times the current number of family pitches on the Station Road site.

Six families of travellers would be allowed to live there, with each group being given an allocation of two caravans.

According to the East Staffordshire Borough Council website, there is only one registered camp site in the borough. It is at The Haven, in Branston Road, Burton.

Those who wish to make official comments about the proposed Draycott site extension can do so by going online to http://www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/ApplicationSearch.aspx

They should then enter application reference P/2017/00181, click on the number beneath the “application number” tab and click the “add comments here” button.

Any comments made will be taken into account by the planning committee when making its final judgement.