Letter to Steve Atkinson HBBC 12/12/08 (Reply in red!)

FAO Mr Steve Atkinson



Dear Sir,



I am somewhat amazed to discover that greenfield land off Sacheverall Way, Groby has become a ‘preferred option’ to potentially house a ‘Gypsy/Traveller Transit Camp’ site within the proposed Local Development Framework plan.



Whilst I appreciate that the Council has a ‘quota’ imposed on them to find suitable sites for Travellers/Gypsies within the Borough I am somewhat astonished and perplexed as to how this site was chosen as a ‘preferred option’ by HBBC?



Could I please ask that you/HBBC explain and answer the following questions:



1. What other sites were considered within the Borough?

2. Why the other sites considered were discarded / deemed unsuitable?

3. Why was Groby chosen as the ‘preferred option’ and the reasoning behind the decision?

4. Why was it decided that a large scale ‘Transit/camp site’ would be more suitable than smaller scale ones throughout the Borough?

5. What parts of the Borough would ‘Travellers/Gypsies’ be dispersed from to the proposed Groby site?



I trust that you will be able to answer my questions to enable me to hopefully understand the rationale behind what I consider HBBC ill-advised proposals on which I currently whole heartedly object to.



Please could I request that you reply by 20th December 2008.





Yours Sincerely,

____________________________________________________________________________

THE GENERIC REPLY:

Dear Mr West

Thank you for your e-mail and for the opportunity to clarify the position.

Whilst I do appreciate your concerns, given the information which I know is in circulation, can I assure you that much of that information is misleading. No decisions have been made and none will be until the Council meeting on 20 January 2009, at which point proposals will be approved for the already agreed and appropriate public consultation.


At present we are still trying to identify possible sites and sizes with elected Members and initial proposals will be put to the JanuaryCouncil meeting; a meeting which the public can attend.. Until that element of the process has been completed, I am not in a position to answer the questions you raise, as the various options are still being evaluated. Those answers can and will be given at a later date.



Following the Council meeting, all residents will have six weeks to discuss and comment on the proposals, which will then be reviewed by a Government Inspector in September and October 2009. Final adoption of the proposals will not take place until November 2010.



Thank you for contacting me. I hope that this response is of assistance.



Yours sincerely





Steve Atkinson

Chief Executive