More places for gipsies (From Swindon Advertiser)
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More places for gipsies
7:40am Wednesday 9th September 2009 in News
NEW sites for gipsies and travellers will be needed in Swindon during the next 20 years, according to a key council document.
Swindon Council’s draft core strategy has indicated 14 new residential pitches will be required by 2026 and will be probably be put in the north of the town.
The council last night disputed the exact number of pitches required but has admitted new pitches close to schools, shops and GP surgeries will have to be provided. A separate site for travelling showpeople will also have to be found.
The draft core strategy is a guide to how development will be managed across the borough over the next two decades.
The document also includes plans to increase the Chiseldon Firs transit site but council officers now claim that no additional pitches will be needed there.
A council spokesman said: “We’ve not yet decided on the locations for the 14 residential or travelling showpeople pitches. They’re not necessarily going to be all in the same place.
“Any site identified will have to comply with planning requirements such as being close to amenities such as schools, GPs surgeries, shops etc, not be on a flood plain, and taking into account traffic considerations.
“Swindon Council does dispute the number of residential pitches required and it may change downwards.”
Coun Eric Shaw (Con, Wroughton and Chiseldon) said he would not like to see any extension of the Firs site.
He said: “It is a transit site and by its very nature people come and go. At the moment it is working well but I would not want to see more pitches.”
There are currently two sites for gipsies and travelling people in the town.
There are 39 plots at the Hay Lane site in Wroughton and three plots at the Small Acres site in Stratton St Margaret.
A spokesman for the council said both sites were operating well and residents were settled.
He also confirmed money spent on the permanent pitches comes directly from the funds raised from transit sites and no other council funds are used.
Comments on the core strategy, which also covers transport, education and cultural issues, can be submitted up to Monday, September 21. A public exhibition about the document will be held tomorrow and Friday at the Brunel Shopping Centre between 9am and 5pm.
Comments(13)
Billy-o
says...
8:58am Wed 9 Sep 09
rosieanna
says...
9:00am Wed 9 Sep 09
Billy-o
says...
9:13am Wed 9 Sep 09
rosieanna wrote:That's hardly an argument. Who pays for the filth some of our young people leave strewn all over the town centre on a Friday and Saturday night? Who cleans up all the waste wrappers from McDonalds and the like that are chucked out of car windows and round retail parks. Not the young people, not McDonalds. At least on a site for travellers, the mess is self contained and managed.
And who pays for the clean-up, every time they move on.?
go4broke
says...
9:22am Wed 9 Sep 09
Mighty Reds wrote:If you look at it this way, we don't need half of the people who sponge.. er I mean "live" in Swindon...
We don't these people in swindon area full stop.
At least a Gypsy site would be regulated and they would have to pay Council Tax..
Always Grumpy
says...
11:56am Wed 9 Sep 09
AllyT
says...
11:58am Wed 9 Sep 09
Billy-o wrote:Couldn't agree with you more...
Nice comments. It's a free country, which is a comment that pops up here a lot. Only free to people who are like 'us', it seems. Surely providing a site for them is better than having them turn up and pitch up at the bottom of your road, if you're that worried about it? Surely having the Council, or someone, monitoring, providing and regulating is a good thing?
moonie
says...
1:26pm Wed 9 Sep 09
Mighty Reds
says...
1:46pm Wed 9 Sep 09
go4broke wrote:What crap, When have gypo's ever taken notice of regulations lol? so your saying people of swindon are spongers?
Mighty Reds wrote:If you look at it this way, we don't need half of the people who sponge.. er I mean "live" in Swindon...
We don't these people in swindon area full stop.
At least a Gypsy site would be regulated and they would have to pay Council Tax..
let me remind you of few facts..
unemployment up 147% in a year in swindon, job seekers facing months of job hunting, more people chasing the basic jobs to try and survive and your calling them spongers.
Pull your head of the sand mate and come up with views that make sense. And those who have lost their jobs in swindon many who haven't been out work for years, have paid their national insurance stamp and entitled to claim benefit.. get a grip. has for gypo's paying council tax that best one yet lol..
Even Angrier Monkey
says...
3:14pm Wed 9 Sep 09
Always Grumpy wrote:haha, good one!
I do have to say I have a soft spot for Gypsies - it's a bog in Ireland!
Veggie
says...
3:57pm Wed 9 Sep 09
rosieanna
says...
10:30pm Wed 9 Sep 09
Billy-o wrote:Its not an argument. Have you ever seen the site, and its not contained as they take over most of the land around it.I'm not out on a Fri/Sat night, I don't go to McDonalds, so I wouldn't see the mess, is that your hobby looking for it!
rosieanna wrote: And who pays for the clean-up, every time they move on.?That's hardly an argument. Who pays for the filth some of our young people leave strewn all over the town centre on a Friday and Saturday night? Who cleans up all the waste wrappers from McDonalds and the like that are chucked out of car windows and round retail parks. Not the young people, not McDonalds. At least on a site for travellers, the mess is self contained and managed.
Scott Thunes
says...
10:38pm Wed 9 Sep 09
Mr Blackwell says...
8:50am Wed 9 Sep 09