Testun llawn:
I would like to object to your proposal to create a Traveller and Gypsy Site on Stratford Road in Warwick. There are a number of reasons for my objection that will be similar to other objections you will have received from residents and business owners such as:
1. The local infrastructure cannot support this site including police resources, local schools, doctors and local facilitates will not be able to cope.
2. Peaceful integrated co-existence between the site and the local community will not be achievable as the majority of residents in both Chase Meadows estate and Shakespeare Avenue estate object to having travellers move into the local area.
3. Warwick generates a lot revenue through tourism, having a Travellers site so close to the centre of Town and near the castle will have a detrimental effect on tourism. As most Police services are aware the crime rates tend to increase when Travellers/ Gypsy's move into an area and this too will affect tourism.
4. The site sits in part within the Flood plain and having a site here will increase the issues that are already being faced.
5. The travellers would experience high levels of noise pollution due to the proximity of the proposed site to the M40
6. The site is located near major roads which already see large volumes of traffic, the Councils own sustainability audit questions these sites for this reason and the danger faced and issues faced by the travellers.
7. The Chase Meadows estate attracts a number of Professionals to move to Warwick having a site so close to an estate will effect House prices and the desire to live in Chase meadows will have a negative impact if Travellers move close by as not many people want to live close to Travellers as they do not integrate into society and theft and crime rates are linked to Travellers moving into a new area.
8. A spokesman for Severn Trent, which owns half the land along with the district council and another landowner, said it will object on the grounds that it thought the land was going to be earmarked for employment.
: "We were encouraged by the council to offer some of our site for employment land and then unexpectedly we were told it was being considered for a Gypsy and Traveller site.
"When consultation begins I think we would object that it is not an appropriate use of this location."
As well as these objections I have experienced and been directly affected by a similar set of circumstances in another area of the country and I hope that you will take my experiences on board and consider these as serious issues when making your final decisions on whether the Stratford side is suitable.
Stratford road is the main entrance to Warwick and the major entry route for tourists to get to Warwick & Warwick Castle. Bearing this in mind, do you really think that this site is a suitable location?
As a resident of Chase Meadows I am also more than aware of how horrible Stratford road can smell due to the sewerage works, sometimes if the wind is blowing in a certain direction it is unbearable. I cannot believe you would deem it acceptable for any residential settlement to be situated adjoining this sewage waste treatment area. Surely there would be health & safety issues surrounding this issue?
This site is also at risk & liable to flood as I checked when buying my property via the environment agency, surely this is not a suitable area to home families in mobile homes so close to the river?
Travellers have set up site illegally on chase meadows twice this year, the first time they caused a number of fires and the Fire Service was called and attended to extinguish them and there were a number of robberies and public disorder problems reported and dealt with by the police.
On my return to Chase Meadows from my second evening job after my shift at around 12:30 at night I attempted to drive into the estate through the Stratford Road entrance, after driving slowly past the approximate 45 caravans and vehicles so I didn't wake them up, I had to stop my car as the travellers had set up an outdoor gym on the road and were performing topless bench presses and other exercises, when I tried to drive past them & their gym around 12 people began to chase my car shouting and throwing stones at me! I couldn't believe that fully grown men would try and intimidate a lone woman late at night. I called the police and reported the incident but they were inundated with calls from other residents and advised that they had taken steps to evict the travellers but could do nothing until the evictions orders were in place.
I do not understand why travellers cannot be housed through the same channels that are open to the rest of the population; in fact there are a number of councils across the UK that offer housing in this manner and there are counties not too far away with half empty fully operational traveller sites.
I have had to purchase a house at a greatly inflated price, I have to work two jobs to pay for it and I think that it is utterly ridiculous that residents are forced to pay such huge mortgages and council tax to live on Warwick Chase Meadows Estate but Travellers will be able to live in the same post code and just pay a minimal site fee & Council Tax which will be covered by housing benefit which is funded by tax payers.
This site will affect working professional home owners like myself and many other young families who have recently purchased their first property on Chase Meadows. Traveller's sites reduce property value if they are problematic and nuisances as my family learned when trying to sell our bankrupted farm, people who have invested in their first homes will be understandably concerned. If I have known that there was even the slightest chance of a Travellers Site being developed I would not have purchased my property, this news has knocked me sick after my previous life experiences with Travellers as you can probably understand.
I know that you have to house the Travellers somewhere and that the Government will give you financial incentives to do so but I beg that you do not develop the Stratford Road Site.
The Travelling Community is growing at the same rate as the general population so you may only need 15-25 pitches this year but in future years how will you accommodate an increasing number of Travellers? It is likely that they will just set up camp on any spare green space around the proposed development and then on the chase meadows estate causing huge legal bills to evict them and anger amongst residents.
Is this what you want visitors to remember about Warwick?