It is my understanding that Warwick District Council met on the 13th August to approve an amendment to the local plan with reference to a proposed site on the Stratford Road Warwick, alongside the Severn Trent site down to the M40 for the purposes of Employment land.

As part of this proposed change was the inclusion for a 15 pitch Gypsy and Traveller permanent site!!

This site was NOT part of the original consultation, nor was it a part of the short list.
I find this ability to "move the goal posts" to suit the council completely unacceptable and brings a mockery to the entire consultation process previously run.

It appears that council have the authority to do entirely as they wish, without consideration to the residents of the town that it is here to serve!

My objections to this site as well as the proposed sites on Hampton Road (GT11 Land at Budbrooke Lodge, Race Course and Hampton Road) remain unchanged;

- School Places;
It is my understanding that the children from traveller communities will be given a higher priority with regards to the allocation of school places and this is a concern that the schools in the proposed areas would be unable to cope with any potential increase.
This is two-fold. Firstly, with the projected school intakes for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 based on the birth rates in the area and secondly, taking into account the large extensions to family estates such as Chase Meadow where it is not possible to estimate the additional places required.

- GP Access;
Living on Chase Meadow, I know how difficult and stretched the GP Surgery (The New Dispensary) is and my concern is that this surgery can not cope with the number of additional patients that the proposed sites may house.

- Infrastructure;
Chase Meadow is largely unadopted by the council and it already suffers with issues surrounding speeding on the estate and leading to and from the estate. One of the proposed sites (plot 11) is located on the border between a 30mph and 60mph limits. My concern is the additional traffic flowing through the chase meadow estate and the need to police the speed limits on the unadopted roads.
Hampton Road is a fast road and the concern of an additional turning so close to an existing turning on this type of road is a risk to the residents safety.

- Aesthetics of the Warwickshire countryside.
Warwick is such a beautiful and historic town for which tourists travel to visit annually. Having seen a number of traveller sites over recent years and months, the risk to the tourism economy for Warwick has to be taken seriously.
The proposed Hampton Road and Junc 15 sites are key routes into Warwick and should be preserved.
Also, the Hampton Road site is located next to the Flat Straight for Warwick Race Course and will be visible to those attending the races.


I would like to thank you for taking to the time to read and file my objection to these proposed traveller sites and look forward to the opportunity to meet with you at the forthcoming meeting.