POWYS councillors should approve plans for a controversial Gypsy and traveller site in Machynlleth, despite issues over replacement common land and highway access still not having been addressed, a report has recommended.

Members of Powys council’s planning committee will discuss the application for the expanded traveller site near Machynlleth Cemetery tomorrow.

Planning officers said that, with appropriate conditions in place, there is nothing to stop the application being approved.

That is despite a strong objection from Machynlleth Town Council and issues raised in the planning report over the fact that the site is currently registered as common land.

The Welsh Government is considering whether concerns over visibility from the access to the site can be overcome to allow the scheme to progress. Town councillors have been particularly vocal in their criticism of the scheme.

They have complained that there has been no full consultation with residents of the town, and that the issue over designating an alternative site as common land for the town has not been resolved.

But in the planning report, it says that conditions aimed at raising the land level to avoid flooding issues and ensuring the protection of wildlife are adequate to allow the development to proceed.

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