Council leader Gary Porter says he hopes travellers on the South Holland's illegal sites will move on peacefully – but that the council will use force to get them to move if necessary.
He said the authority can do nothing about the planning appeal launched by travellers in Cranmore Lane, Holbeach, scheduled for next January but says the identification of alternative sites has weakened their case.
Coun Porter said it would be "pe
rverse" if the planning inspectorate were to overturn the decision to refuse permission after it previously upheld it and gave the travellers 18 months to vacate the site in 2005.
He said: "We need to explain to them that it is in their best interests to transfer peacefully. We do not want to own the sites, as it is not in our best interests. If they are not prepared to go willingly then we are not likely to transfer ownership.
"We will force them off. One of the conditions of the community going through this process was so we would be able to forcefully resist any illegal travelling encampment inside South Holland. They will be resisted as forcefully as they legally can be."
The council is waiting to see if the selection of the three sites at Wednesday's cabinet meeting is called in before officers start preparing paperwork to buy the plots and seek planning approval.
If the matter is called in the policy performance monitoring panel can ask the cabinet to revisit it, but Coun Porter said unless any major new evidence comes to light members are unlikely to alter their decision.
The full article contains 270 words and appears in Lincolnshire Free Press newspaper.
