Traveller and Gypsy sites proposal consultation
| Published: 16th May 2008 22:40 |
North Wiltshire District Council is now consulting with local communities on potential sites for use by the Gypsy and Traveller community. This process will examine sites that have been suggested previously, as well as providing the opportunity for the community to suggest other sites.
NWDC Public Meeting 16th June, 8 pm at the Calne Leisure centre
The consultation period will last for six weeks, running from Friday 9 May through until Friday 20 June 2008. Full consultation documents are available to download from the website, alongside information on how you can respond to the proposals
click here to link to the NWDC website
What's your view on this? Is everyone you know aware of what's happening? Please let us know, we will be getting regular updates on progress with the report from the Town Council but the more people who can respond, the better picture they will be able to present of the true feeling amongst the people of Calne.
Use our community comment facility to share your views........there were over 100 people at the public meeting, many of whom had only heard about the meeting from friends outside of Calne! If more people had known the attendance would have been phenomenal....
Some of the issues discussed at the public meeting focussed on the planning issues on the suggested sites. There are criteria set out and some of these are not met by the proposed Calne sites ie within a mile of a secondary school. The ongoing regeneration of Calne physically and the perception of a positive image of the town overcoming past difficulties, may be hindered by the location of a site at the 'entrance' to our town.
The Town Council need hard evidence to compile their report to ensure a true reflection of the local community is offered. An example may be if you have your property on the market, and receive comments on the proposals for the sites.
Details of how to contact the council are on their website via the link above. Emails can be sent to lrobertson@northwilts.gov.uk copying lroberts@calne.gov.uk
Community Comment:
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At 21:32 on 8th June 2008, Kathryn T commented:
My husband and I moved to Calne 6 months ago.
We moved from a hugely populated area in the South East and wanted a more rural location for our future. One of the reasons that we chose Calne was due to the rejuvenation of the town centre that we had been informed was going to happen. The house prices were reasonable and the area that we have move to had a very neighbourly atmosphere - I feel that is in total jeopardy at the moment due to the potential of the gypsy/traveller site moving into Calne.
Not only have residents of Calne been kept out of the loop with regards to what is happening within their town but we have recently been informed that the number of pitches have doubled from 24 to 48. We have been informed of this via the Gazette and Herald which again I find is truly dissapointing and not been kept upto date by our local council representatives. With this amount of pitches this will destroy the hard work that has been done to make Calne the place it now is.
My husband and I moved to this area to start a family and with the potential site being located within Calne - we are considering moving. This is not a decision that we have come to lightly but we feel so strongly about the potential site that it is an option that we have to consider. I work for one of the police forces and have first hand knowledge of gypsy and traveller sites - legal and illegal. My basis in writing this is done from cold, hard facts rather than speculatuion and I therefore urge the local, district and county council to not place the gypsy/traveller site in Calne as this would destroy the hard working and neighbourly community that is currently here.
We moved from a hugely populated area in the South East and wanted a more rural location for our future. One of the reasons that we chose Calne was due to the rejuvenation of the town centre that we had been informed was going to happen. The house prices were reasonable and the area that we have move to had a very neighbourly atmosphere - I feel that is in total jeopardy at the moment due to the potential of the gypsy/traveller site moving into Calne.
Not only have residents of Calne been kept out of the loop with regards to what is happening within their town but we have recently been informed that the number of pitches have doubled from 24 to 48. We have been informed of this via the Gazette and Herald which again I find is truly dissapointing and not been kept upto date by our local council representatives. With this amount of pitches this will destroy the hard work that has been done to make Calne the place it now is.
My husband and I moved to this area to start a family and with the potential site being located within Calne - we are considering moving. This is not a decision that we have come to lightly but we feel so strongly about the potential site that it is an option that we have to consider. I work for one of the police forces and have first hand knowledge of gypsy and traveller sites - legal and illegal. My basis in writing this is done from cold, hard facts rather than speculatuion and I therefore urge the local, district and county council to not place the gypsy/traveller site in Calne as this would destroy the hard working and neighbourly community that is currently here.
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