BASE HEADER

I write to object to the proposal to create sites for gypsy/traveller people on the edge of Baginton Village. This site will not meet the your own requirements of

* Avoiding areas where there could be adverse impact on important features of the natural and
historic environment; and,
* Sites which can be integrated into the landscape without harming the character of the area

Baginton is a small residential village which is both picturesque and historic. It includes the Coven Tree Oak said to have given rise to the name of nearby Coventry. It also has the Roman Lunt Fort which like the oak is a tourist attraction. A traveller site will detract from these attractions and adversely affect tourism in the village. Also the site will have an adverse impact on a pretty quiet village with the known associations of noise, litter, vandalism and the increase in burglary and theft which accompanies such people, all of these known associations with gypsy traveller population will harm the character of the area.

I am the chair of the Styvechale and District Residents Association which represents 3500 homes in the south of Coventry. We feel threatened by the adverse implications of a gypsy traveller site so close to our own homes. As a Warwickshire headteacher whose school had some vacant land adjacent to our site which was invaded by travellers on a number of occasions, I have personal experience of the burglaries and thefts and anti-social behaviour such close proximity creates. Please reconsider this location.