The Vale of Glamorgan Council is considering turning the unauthorised Traveller camp on Hayes Road into a permanent site.

This comes after a fruitless five-year search for an alternative.

A group of so-called "New Travellers" and Showpeople have occupied the land since 2012.

Once a waste recycling centre, the now-caravan-strewn site is situated adjacent to Beachwood College for autistic people.

It lies partly in a flood plain, and its current provisions fall short of Welsh Government guidelines on formal dwellings.

Much of Hayes Road, including the site entrance, was severely flooded following heavy rains on 23 December.

National planning policy does not allow for a site to be established without vehicular access in times of flooding.

To resolve this issue, the Vale of Glamorgan Council is considering constructing an "emergency vehicular access via adjacent land that is not affected by flooding to connect to the adopted highway at South Road."

Land not owned by the Council would be purchased and built on in order to construct such a road.

This would enable the section of the site that does not lie on the flood plain to be occupied if the following provisions are established:

• A service unit connected to water supply, drainage, electricity and other services/facilities;
• A hard-surfaced level area with drainage falls;
• Provision for drying clothes;
• A lockable shed for tools, bikes, extra storage;
• A suitable container for domestic refuse and/or access to container for bulkier waste;
• A distribution of electricity hook-up points to allow for the different positioning of caravans and trailers;
• A way of securing caravans and trailers during high winds such as steel rings laid in concrete which would allow ropes to be threaded through and secured to keep caravans and trailers from being buffeted by the wind;
• Hook up to drains and sewage systems

• Good access to services like health care, schools, shops etc.;
• Electricity and water supply;
• Ideally located in the 'eastern' Vale of Glamorgan not too far from the established tolerated site;
• Trees on site;
• A fresh water stream on site;
• Ability to grow vegetables and have a small amount of livestock;
• A shared community facility (building / shelter) for gatherings;
• A workshop for vehicle repairs, woodcraft etc.

Building a road between the camp and South Road is just one of the options the Vale Council is considering. Its feasibility is currently being assessed.

Other options include compulsory purchase of land, purchasing land on the open market, or using land already owned by the Vale Council.

However, as the Vale Council report states, these routes have already "been explored in some detail without success".

Councillor Kevin Mahoney is highly critical of the idea.

"It's sheer and utter madness," he told Nub News.

"They seem determined to put that site in that area simply because that's where the travellers are pitched up now.

"The Sully site has to be disregarded. An investigation has to be held into the Vale of Glamorgan Planning Department as to their competence and why they keep returning to this over and over again.

"They said in their report they have 500 pieces of Council land in the Vale [...] yet they say they haven't got any suitable land," he continued.

"What's the agenda here? Why do they keep coming back to it? If you're telling me there's no suitable site in the Vale of Glamorgan, that's utter nonsense."

Cllr Mahoney also commented on the desires of the Travellers themselves.

"They'd like a patch of land provided for them with trees, a freshwater stream, and land for livestock and informal buildings and workshops.

"I'd like something like that if the Vale of Glamorgan has anything."

The Vale of Glamorgan Council has provided the following statement:

"As a Council, we must ensure that we provide suitable accommodation for all those within our community and Gypsy and Traveller groups are certainly no exception. Having somewhere to call home is a basic human right that everyone is entitled to. It is fundamental to our wellbeing and provides children with an environment in which they can grow and develop.

"Welsh Government has set aside capital funding to meet the housing needs of the Gypsy and Traveller community, which is ring fenced for the development of new Gypsy and Traveller sites and for upgrading existing sites.

"Delivering a site is a complex process as the location needs to satisfy a range of specific criterion. This site has been identified as it meets those requirements and also because it lies in close proximity to the current unauthorised Gypsy and Traveller site and the amenities of Barry.

"The Council undertook a detailed assessment of its own land and potential alternative sites, which were presented previously to Cabinet as set out in the latest report and did not result in a suitable alternative site being identified. The Council asked the public to suggest potential sites for Gypsy and Traveller use between February 17 and March 30 last year. This was followed by a direct approach to land agents between December and January.

"This proposal will now be considered by the Homes and Safe Communities Scrutiny Committee. Subject to that feedback, the Strategic Housing Board will then conduct detailed site investigations, begin discussions regarding the potential purchase of any additional land and submit a planning application. There would also be public consultation as part of this process.

"Feasibility work around the possibility of providing a road to allow emergency access in the event of flooding is taking place and will be used to inform future Council decisions on this matter."

When we approached the camp itself for comment, we were told in no uncertain terms that the occupants did not want to speak with journalists.