PLANS to house six gypsy pitches on land in Weyhill have been withdrawn.

An application was submitted to Test Valley Borough Council asking to use the land at The Firs, in Sarson Lane, to house six gypsy pitches to “provide additional necessary accommodation on an existing gypsy site within the borough, where there is a lack of available, suitable alternative accommodation”.

The site was granted planning permission in December 2005 to be used as a “long stay caravan site for one gypsy family (three caravans) with ancillary utility block and sewage treatment plant and ancillary hardstanding”.

The permission was granted with the condition that not more than three static caravans or mobile homes are placed on the land at any time, in order to “limit the level of clutter within the site in the interests of the visual amenities of the countryside area”.

The new application proposed to increase this to six caravans, without the restriction of one family using them, and said: “There is sufficient space within the site to accommodate the six caravans.”

It added: “There is an identified need for gypsy plots within the borough, which this proposal would help to meet.”

The plans were withdrawn on June 4 after Environmental Health objected to the proposal because of “a lack of information”.

An email from Matthew Robinson, scientific officer at the Environmental Protection Team, said: “A major constraint on this site will be the noise from the adjacent road and railway line. Before we would be in a position to offer conditions, we need to understand if the site is suitable for the proposed development and if acoustic treatment, if required, is feasible.”