Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople -
consultation on sites
Wyre Forest District Council this week
launches a six week consultation on possible sites to be allocated
in the Local Development Framework for Gypsies, Travellers and
Travelling Showpeople. The consultation opens on 7th
October and will last until 18th November.
Wyre Forest District Council has a duty to
plan for the future development of the District. The process
by which this is undertaken is through what is known as the ‘Local
Development Framework’. This framework sets out how we manage
the development of the District over the next 15 years. As
part of this Framework we need to plan for, amongst other things,
new homes, jobs, shops, leisure uses, as well as sites for Gypsies,
Travellers and Travelling Showpeople.
Part of this Framework is already in place as
the Council adopted its Core Strategy in December 2010 and
consultation on a Site Allocations Document (that will eventually
include the allocations for Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling
Showpeople) took place over the summer.
At the meeting of the Council’s Cabinet on
20th September a number of sites for Gypsy, Traveller
and Travelling Showpeople were considered and seven were agreed for
public consultation.
The sites included for consultation are the
site at Stourport Road Bewdley, former Sion Hill School site
Kidderminster, Lea Castle Hospital site Cookley, land adjacent to
Nunn's Corner, Stourport-on-Severn, Saiwen Stourport-on-Severn, The
Gables Yard Stourport-on-Severn, farm on St John's Road,
Stourport-on-Severn.
The District Council has prepared a ‘Public
Consultation Information Pack’ to accompany the consultation.
This provides further information on why we are consulting on this
issue, where the suggested sites are, and how the consultation
process will run. This pack will be available on this website from
this Friday (7th October).
Hard copies of the consultation document and
response forms will be available at the Worcestershire Hubs in
Kidderminster, Stourport-on-Severn and Bewdley and the District’s
libraries in Kidderminster, Stourport-on-Severn and Bewdley, from
Friday 7th October.
Please send your completed response forms, or
a letter, to us at the following address, Planning Policy, Wyre
Forest District Council, Duke House, Clensmore Street,
Kidderminster, DY10 2JX. Alternatively, you can send an email outlining
your comments.
As part of this consultation, the Council also
wants to know if there are any sites that we have missed which may
be suitable for future Gypsy, Traveller or Travelling Showpeople
use. If there are then please let us know and we can consider
these along with all consultation responses received on the short
listed sites.
Arrangements are currently being made for
public meetings to be held during the consultation period in
conjunction with Town and Parish Councils in areas where sites have
been identified. These meetings will be available to the
public attend and to ask questions regarding the sites and the
process of allocation. Further details of these meetings will be
made available on this website at the earliest opportunity.
Councillor Julian Phillips, Wyre Forest
District Council’s Cabinet member for place shaping said “Following
the decision of the Cabinet on 20th September to consult
on potential sites for Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling
Showpeople I can confirm that the public consultation period on the
suggested sites will run from 7th October to
18th November. The District Council has prepared a
‘Public Consultation Information Pack’ that provides information
about the process and the sites selected for consultation and I
would ask that people read this document carefully and let the
Council have their views.
“I must stress that this consultation is about
potential sites and land use and therefore comments should be
focussed on the merits of the sites in planning terms.
Additionally, we are also asking if there are other sites which we
may have missed that might be suitable for allocation and, if there
are, we would like these to be identified so they too can be
considered.
“A lot of rumours are flying around at the
moment, so I must stress that just because we are consulting on a
site does not mean it will be selected. No formal decisions on the
allocation of sites will be made until 2012 and the comments we
receive through this consultation process will help us to make a
decision on an issue that has generated a lot of interest
locally.”
Issued on - Tuesday 4th October 2011
Consultation on Potential Sites for Gypsies,
Travellers and Travelling Showpeople
Dates of
Public Meetings - Potential sites for Gypsies, Travellers and
Travelling Showpeople