This is Green Belt land south of Baginton. The area is already threatened by Coventry Gateway. Any development here would add to the encirclement of Baginton which is a village that only survives as a separate community so close to Coventry by virtue of the Green Belt.

I strongly object to the proposed development within Baginton village. This is green belt land in an area which is not suitable to sustain this gypsy site. This will place an intolerable strain on limited local resources. The site is not within reach of amenities which are claimed to be necessary . Pedestrianised access to the centre is not available. Part of the site is owned and operated by a private business well suited to the environment and it should remain this way.. As I understand it other identified proposed sites are not on protected green belt land, have better access to facilities, would not adversely impact rural businesses and would not lead to over concentration of sites in one area.

The proposed site in Stoneleigh Road, Baginton is not within easy reach of a GP surgery. The nearest are in Green Lane or Baginton Road, Coventry. The Warwickshire schools are full and will only accept a limited number of children from the village, leaving parents to find schools in Coventry with spare capacity. Public transport to the village is limited which would cause difficulties for families. There is a lack of footpath provision meaning that villagers have to walk on the road.

It would be great to be able to offer sessional youth work support to the young people on the sites. The Warwickshire Association of Youth Clubs would be interested in offering such support if funded by say the Community Levy

Based on the provided sites, I believe this site would be suitable based on the close proximity of major services and meet the required criteria. Infrastructure requirements within this area would be better suited than others within the study and is in close proximity of other community services needed.

I wish to register my objection to the proposed gypsy & traveller site at the above location in Baginton.
I feel that if the council allows this the quality of village life will suffer as crime & travellers seems to go hand in hand, the value of my property will decline & I won't feel comfortable leaving my home unattended as my house is located on the nearest residential street to the site!
This is just too much on top of the Coventry & Warwickshire Gateway, why is the council trying to destroy our village?

I am writing to object in the strongest possible terms to imposing such a large traveller site on the most beautiful part of our village, right next to a listed church and settlement which dates back to Saxon times. Is it not enough that you have decided to plonk a huge industrial white elephant to one side of us, you now want to destroy the green belt the other side of us as well.

I have experience of traveller people through my work, and the one thing they appreciate is isolation from us non-traveller folk.
Consider also the cost of transporting all those children to and from their schools in Kenilworth at a time of cuts in services, although presumably you will say they will not bother to attend anyway, but instead roam around our village. Our children already have difficulty getting school places, you will presumably have to expand the primary schools to cope, even if they do not attend.

This is a wholly inappropriate development on green belt land and will be seriously detrimental to the existing amenities in the village.

I have studied your proposed site for ref GT-07, and I can find no logic to your proposal, as there is already a site based at Siskin Drive for these people to live and travel too, not only would it disrupt village life as we know it now, it would also take away a sustained thriving business (Smiths garden Centre). I here by lodge my objection to this proposal taking place. I suggest the council rethinks it's plans thoroughly on this matter.

We would like to express our concern and objection to the planned gypsy & traveller site proposed in bagington.

The area is a well established village and doesn't need a hotbed of problems with gypsies.

The councilors are out of their mind by attracting this to the area. How about the councilors have them living in their neighbourhoods instead!!

Thought not!

I wish to register my very strong objection to the proposal for a site for Travellers to be created at Smiths Nurseries, Baginton, ref. GT-07.
I feel the proposed site is wholly inappropriate for such a small village for the following reasons:

The size of the proposed site will result in it becoming a dominant feature within Baginton, dramatically increasing the size of the village population without increasing the supply of amenities.
There will be a significant number of children requiring places at the Baginton catchment area schools. Currently Baginton children are often not able to get their parents first choice school within the catchment area. It is not appropriate to increase the number of child places competing for what would be a reduced percentage availability for an enlarged population.
The link between gypsy/traveller sites and crime is hotly debated. However, the negative experiences of those persons already living in the vicinity of such sites cannot be denied as cannot the experiences of business owner/operators within the vicinity of such sites.
The mere perception of a site to be established within the vicinity will cause property values within the village and surrounding areas to fall dramatically and severely limit the ability of people to sell their property should they so wish as has been experienced elsewhere in the not too distant locality.
Combined with the Coventry and Warwickshire Gateway this is too much development far too quickly for a small community. The result of this development will be strained community relations and a reduction in quality of life for both the gypsy/travellers taking residence at the site and the already established village inhabitants.
The integration of the proposed new gypsy/traveller population into the population of the village will be seriously adversely affected by the size of the proposed development leading to distortion of views, a lack of social harmony, and even isolation to some of if not all parties concerned.

I most strongly object to the proposal in it's current format.

I do object to this proposal on the following grounds:

Whenever travellers are in this area we have suffered an upsurge in criminal activity. My neighbour used to have a sunbed in her garden shed. She went in there one morning to find a traveller asleep on it.
While I have respect for the right to genuine Romany gypsies to have places of rest on their travels (one of my not too distant relatives was a gypsy princess and those people were always good to my father when he was a child), what you propose to do would open the floodgates to all travellers and this includes the Irish tinkers who even the police are afraid of. Can you imagine what this would do for our older residents. They would have no peace of mind and would be living in fear of being robbed or worse with as we know, no chance of the law being brought to bear on the perpetrators. Not only that, any complaints against these people would result in reprisals as my friend was advised by police after he did some work for such a character and the man refused to pay him £6000. He was advised by the police to let the matter drop as the man had my friends address. Would you want this on your doorstep? Travellers are by name transient people and I believe have the right to places of rest but this would result in resident hell for us. You know this to be the truth so please do the right thing and scratch this idea. We really don't want this and unlike them, we pay our rates and taxes so should our wishes should I believe be considered as a priority.

Whilst fully accepting that the Council is obliged to find sites for travellers within its boundaries, may I plead that you keep well away from Stoneleigh/Ashow/Bubbenhall and Baginton.

Thanks to last night's decision over Gateway, and the decisions about the development of Stoneleigh Park, and the likelihood of HS2 going ahead, this part of the county has already lost the bulk of its previous greenbelt. There is no sign of any 'joined-up-thinking' and everyone who attempts to travel from this part of the county to anywhere else is going to face years of disruption thanks to construction work. Building more residential properties, or designating traveller sites, anywhere near these developments will only add to what will be extreme chaos. And HS2 Ltd is on record as stating that any impact on the local infrastructure caused by its construction (we were told that this would be 5 years) will be a cost on local councils and not on the budget for the HS2 project. How will Warwick District Council afford this?

Help!!!

I would like to register my objection to proposed plans for the above on
the following grounds:-

The size of this site will result in it becoming a dominate feature within Baginton,
dramatically increasing the size of the village population without increasing the
supply of amenities.

There will be a significant number of children requiring places at the Baginton
catchment area schools. Baginton children are even now often not able to get
their first choice-the school within the catchment area. It is not appropriate
to increase the number of child places.

The link between gypsy/traveller sides and crime is hotly debated, however,
its mere perception will cause the value of property in the village to
decrease dramatically.

Combined with the Coventry & Warwickshire GATEWAY, this is TOO MUCH
development - far too quickly for a small community. The result of this
development will be strained community relations and a reduction in
quality of life for both gypsy/travellers taking residence at the site, and the
current village inhabitants.

Proposed Traveller site in Baginton. Ref: GT-07

I strongly object to the proposed camp on the following grounds:
Dominance -
The planned traveler site seems, from the drawings I have seen, to be huge. This will become a very large dominant feature in Baginton. This will increase the amount of residents in the village without increasing the amenities? I have seen camp sites when they have been vacated and they are not left in a sanitary manner. This is not fair.
Schools -
In Baginton at the moment it is hard for parents to get their children in at their first schools of choice in our catchment area. Imagine how much harder it will be for them when there is a massive campsite just down the road and all of their children have to find schools too in the same area too?
GPs-
I was informed that traveler sites are meant to be put in the same area as a local GP? Well in Baginton we have to get a bus into Coventry to get to see a doctor. Why not put them near a doctor in the first instance.
Shop-
We have a local shop in Baginton. It's only a small shop and is handy for the older generation of the village. I have been in the shop when there have been gypsy children in there. They are very intimidating, especially when they go in large groups, even to me and I am 24 years old! I imagine that they are extremely intimidating to the staffs that work in the shop.
People-
Following on from my previous point I do not think this development is fair on the community, especially the older generation of the village. I have seen pensioners extremely upset by the thought of a camp down the road. They do not feel safe in their own homes as it is with the amount of robberies and burglaries that have gone on in recent times. This will only add to their worries.
Crime-
I am not saying that all gypsies are thieves but you cannot disagree that with a camp in Baginton the value of houses is going to plummet sharply. People will not feel safe in the homes. My family has been the victims of shed and garage thefts several times and I do not want to be worrying that it will happen again.
Traffic -
Traffic in Baginton is already heavy for a small village and Coventry road is a very fast road. Adding a campsite of this magnitude will only add to the problem.
Animals-
I will not feel safe letting my animals outside if this goes ahead as Gypsies I've known off have dogs. They are not kept locked up correctly and escape on a regular basis and this could pose a safety issue for traffic, people and their pets. Also people will be weary of letting their children out to play as people in Baginton are all too aware of the issues with the dogs on the campsite in siskin drive that have attacked people and caused car accidents.
Noise-
Baginton is a very quiet village and the noise levels will increase with such a big camp on our doorsteps. This will affect people as well as the local wildlife.
Gateway-
Finally with this development and Coventry and Warwickshire Gateway being approved this is way too much development for Baginton all coming at once. The village is literary going to be swallowed up and the quality of life for all concerned will be diminished. We should be preserving our fields and green areas, not using Baginton as a dumping ground. I would be interested in hearing why Smiths nurseries was chosen as a candidate site when there are empty fields all over the place?
I trust objections will be put before the relevant Planning Committee in due course prior to a decision being made.

The proposal for a permanent site for gypsies and travellers in Bagington flys in the face of the policy guidelines.
The scale of the proposal on the edge of Bagington prevents it from being one of the "Sites which can be integrated into the landscape without harming the character of the area".
The proposal fails "To fully accord with the provisions of 'Planning Policy for Traveller Sites ", in that neither of the following criteria can be met or "be incorporated so that the policy:
*promotes peaceful and integrated co-existence between the site and the local community
*avoids placing undue pressure on local infrastructure and services."
I am aware of many Bagington residents who have made detailed objections to the proposal on the grounds that there cannot be peaceful and integrated co-existence between the proposed site and the local community and that the local infrastructure and services will definitely face undue pressure. I do hope that those who are "the local community" and are entitled to vote in elections have their voices heard on this matter. Please note my objection.

I would like to express my serious concern at the proposals for a large permanent site for gypsies and travellers in Baginton, a small village close to Coventry which is being "bombarded" from every direction with threats of large scale development, the Coventry Gateway Scheme, Stoneleigh Park, and Abbey Park. On top of this, is the anticipated application to extend Coventry Airport.

The relatively tranquil nature of Baginton will be lost from increased traffic, noise and air pollution, and if allowed, unsocial neighbours. In addition of objecting on behalf of the residents of Baginton, I also register my strong objections as a member of the Coventry Golf Club as the proposed site would form a very prominent blight on the river landscape and tranquil environment.

I feel this site is wholly inappropriate for the small village of Baginton, for these and the following reasons:-

* The size of this site will result in it becoming a dominant feature within Baginton, dramatically increasing the size of the village population without increasing the supply of amenities.
* There will be a significant number of children requiring places at the Baginton catchment area schools. Baginton children are, even now, often not able to get their first choice - the school within the catchment area. It is not appropriate to increase the number of child places.
* The link between gypsy/traveller sites and crime is hotly debated, however its mere perception will cause the value of property in the village to decrease dramatically.
* Combined with the Coventry and Warwickshire gateway, this is too much development far too quickly for a small community. The result of this development will be strained community relations and a reduction in quality of life for both the gypsy and travellers taking residence at the site, the current village inhabitants and the members of the Coventry Golf Club.

I would be grateful if my objection could be brought to the attention of the Members of the Planning Committee.

Objection to Gypsy and Traveller site proposed in Baginton

I feel the site of Smiths Nurseries is wholly inappropriate for our small village for the following reasons:

- The size of the site will result in it becoming a dominant feature within Baginton, dramatically increasing the size of the village population without increasing the supply of amenities.

- There will be a significant number of children requiring places at the Baginton catchment area schools. Baginton children are, even now, often not able to get their first choice - the school within the catchment area. It is not appropriate to increase the number of child places.

- The link between gypsy / traveller sites and crime is hotly debated, however it's mere perception will cause the value of property in the village to decrease dramatically.

- Combined with the Coventry and Warwickshire gateway, this is too much development far too quickly for a small community. The result of this development will be strained community relations and a reduction in quality of life for both the gypsy and travellers taking residence at the site, and the current village inhabitants.

On a personal note, I bought a house in the village of Baginton in 2006 because I loved the small village community and sense of belonging to an area loved by all, the good schools in the catchment area and the activities funded by the Lucy Price Trust fund led me to believe that this was the right place to bring up a family, however, the introduction of gypsy's and travellers into the area and into the schools changes all of that. As well as the increase in crime rate that will undoubtedly follow there is also the risk to our children of becoming part of groups of friends that we would not otherwise come across living in a small, well looked after community.

Please think of the long term impact on our surroundings, our village and our community and also the future generations within Baginton and do not allow this development to go ahead.

Dear Sir/Madam,

We write in objection to the proposed Gypsy & Traveller site at Stoneleigh Road (GT07).
There are already three traveller sites within a few miles of this proposed site. Therefore the proposal does not satisfy the Local Plan Strategy of "distributing development across the District".
We feel that it would be unfair to force Smith's nursery to give up their land for this development, especially as they have expanded and spent a lot of money in building up the business, which is an asset to the village and the wider community.

reference GT-07-smiths nurseries I would object strongly against this proposed development

I wish to register an objection to the proposed development of a Gypsy and Traveller site in Baginton. Such a large development is surely inappropriate in a small village and the the present residents will be overwhelmed by the influx of a transient population. It will affect the character of the village, put a strain on local community facilities, the school in particular and could cause difficulties in what is at present a quiet harmonious community.

As a member of Coventry Golf Club, which is adjacent to the site, I am particularly concerned at the visual impact, the possibility of intrusion on to the Golf Course and the possibility of noise and other pollution.

I ask you to reject the application,

I strongly object to a gipsy site being located in the Bagington village, this a small village with few amenities and would not be able to cope with a large gipsy site.

I have had experience of these people and the village community would suffer very badly from them being sited there.

I don't need to explain all the other things they do, you already are fully aware of what these people are like.

The property values will diminish overnight.

I do have family living in Bagington.

I would like to express my objection at the proposed traveller site in baginton, For the following reasons the area is green belt and farm land and should stay that way /the village is made up of a lot of elderly and retired people who would have little or no protection from the crime and violence associated with these sites /for example the site is opposite to the Baginton Oak pub and we all know to well what happened to the people running the Bull Butcher on the road to princethorpe when a traveller site was set up opposite the pub they where terrorised and had to close down and leave. Also the value of our properties will fall and no one will want to invest in the gateway with a traveller site on its door step. Baginton also has no shops, school, doctors, local police station, or any other facilitates to support these people. All of these sites very soon become a dumping ground and a blight on the landscape one only has to look at the site on Siskin Drive where the facilities that were built have been vandalised and boarded up all at the expense of the rate and tax payers.I would like to think that the money i pay in rates and taxes could be used for better and more suitable projects that will improve and enhance our community rather than destroy our entire way of a peaceful life in a rural setting.

I wish to register my objection to the above proposal.

Baginton is a small village community and this development would overwhelm the amenities in the village.There is already a shortage of school places for local children and although I am to old by a long way to be affected it is of great concern to me because of my grand children who live in the area.

There are already other major developments planned for the locality and any further development would undoubtedly result in the demise of a pleasant village environment.

The proposed development would also result in a significant decrease in local property values as evidenced by similar developments elsewhere.

I feel very strongly that such a development in this area is inappropriate and unwanted.

To Whom this concern,
I am writing to you with my concerns about the proposed travellers site on site map reference G107, land at Stoneleigh road in Baginton village.
My objections to this site are as follows;


1) The land that is proposed for the travellers site is on green belt land, and the government aims stated that green belt land should be protected from inappropriate development.

2) It will be affecting a rural business that has been established for over 70 years ,in turn affecting all businesses with whom they conduct trade .

3) We as a village already have three traveller sites within a few miles therefore adding this site is not fair and goes against the even distribution of traveller sites within Warwickshire.

4) It is stated that the sites should be close to schools, doctors etc, we don't have a school within the village and have to bus our children into Kenilworth which is a hour traveling every morning and afternoon. There are not enough places in Kenilworth schools for the existing children let alone having to take on potentially another 30 children. It would also pose issues with bus transport as there are limited places. We as a village travel into Coventry for doctors and hospitals.

5) A site straight opposite the entrance to a airport and at the end of the run way also goes against the councils policy 'Avoiding areas where there is the potential for noise and other disturbances'.

6) The councils development plan states that there should be safe access to the road network, the roads are narrow and very busy and therefore access to any traveller site may become dangerous for the travellers when they move sites frequently.

7) Access to the village on foot from the proposed site would be along the road or grass verge . this is unsuitable for pushchairs and could be very dangerous for lone children.

8)Having a site with 15 pitches would destroy our village .

9) You stated that there is no evidence that having a traveller site near our property would affect the selling price. Would you by a house next to a travellers site, I wouldn't.

10) With the Gateway being given the go head are the perspective businesses and companies that will bring in lots off jobs to the area aware that they may need extra security .



As you can see from the list above proposed site G107 is not suitable.
The travellers will not be made welcome within the village, Baginton will become a 'Meriden'.

Thank you for taking the time to read my objections, I will look forward to your response.

We wish to register my objections to the proposal to locate a Travellers site at Bagington in the area currently occupied by Smiths Nurseries - Reference GT-07.
We feel it will be totally inappropriate in this location and request the Council to reject to proposal for this site.
Yours sincerely

Please accept this as an objection to the new plans for the Gypsy traveller site in Baginton Village. There are already three site in surrounding areas and the plans are totally inappropriate to the Village and Green Belt. There are not enough facilities in the area to cope with the increase number of people in the village and the impact to the rural area would be unacceptable

Gypsy and Traveller site proposed in Baginton

This site is wholly innapropriate for the following reasons :

The size of this site will result in it becoming a dominant feature within Baginton, dramatically increasing the size of the village population without increasing the supply of amenities.

There will be a significant number of children requiring places at the Baginton catchment area schools. Baginton children are, even now, often not able to get their first choice - the school within the catchment area. It is not appropriate to increase the number of child places.

The link between gypsy/traveller sites and crime is hotly debated, however its mere perception will cause the value of property in the village to decrease dramatically.

Combined with the Coventry and Warwickshire gateway, this is too much development far too quickly for a small community. The result of this development will be strained community relations and a reduction in quality of life for both the gypsy and travellers taking residence at the site, and the current village inhabitants.

Re: Gypsy & Traveller Site Options - Ref GT07 Stoneleigh Road, Baginton - OBJECTION
Dear Sirs,
I wish to register my objection to the proposed Gypsy & Traveller Site GT07 as it is not a suitable site for this type of development, not being within easy reach of the local facilities that you state are necessary - eg schools, doctors, main roads etc.
There are already 3 other Traveller sites within a small radius of this site & this makes it too much concentration in one small area - therefore definitely not 'distributed across the District'.
This concentration of sites will ultimately have a definite detrimental effect on the residents of Baginton including the devaluation of property etc.

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.

We are absolutely outraged that this could ever be considered. This is an area that is proposed for future development already. We do not want a traveller site. If this community are travellers why do they need a permanent site? There are many caravan sites around our country that are available at a daily fee. This is not a good move for our community that, at the moment attracts professionals to the area.