Tuesday 7 February 2012

Residents urged to have their say on proposed Traveller sites in Bournemouth

CAMPAIGNERS against a proposed Travellers’ site for central Bournemouth are urging people to have their say as the first chance to comment comes to a close.

Councils have been asked to come up with potential sites by the government, and Park Road at Lansdowne is the only one in Bournemouth to be ‘shortlisted’, while three others, at Muscliffe and Throop, have been marked for further investigation.

The first round of consultation ends on Friday and Alex De Freitas, who runs Good Food by Alex in Lansdowne Road, said people needed to think of Bournemouth as a whole, not just support or oppose one site or another.

She said: “It’s (Lansdowne) the gateway to the town and the heart of Bournemouth is Lansdowne. Is this the image that we want to give Bournemouth?

“It’s wrong for Bournemouth and it’s wrong for the Travellers.

“We all understand that we need to have a site to stop the problems of the past, but I think Lansdowne is the wrong place.”

Businesses and residents opposed to the Park Road site say the area already suffers problems due to homelessness and low-level crime.

However, Travellers’ representatives have said that protestors were showing prejudice and had no proof that there would be trouble if the site got the go-ahead.

Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns has objected to the Park Road proposal, which would be a transit site, saying he was concerned that it was the only one to be shortlisted in the borough.

Locals also say the land could be put to use for much-needed housing and it would be wrong to site Travellers in a populated residential area.

David Landau, a property owner in the area, added: “The main message is the consultation ends in just a few days’ time and people have got to write or e-mail.”

More details can be found at dorsetforyou.com/travellerpitches

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