Meeting hears objections to proposed Fairhill Gypsy and Travellers site - Bedfordshire

From Bedfordshire On Sunday

AROUND 120 residents from Biddenham, Clapham and Harpur ward crowded into Rushmoor School hall on Monday night to express their objections to a proposed Gypsy site being built in their midst.

The meeting was set up by citizens across the area of Bedford to discuss their opposition to Bedford Borough Council’s plans to create a new Gypsy and Traveller site at ‘Fairhill’, behind Sainsbury’s in Clapham Road, Bedford, formerly known as Cut Throat Lane until it closed in the mid-1990s.

The Borough Council submitted plans for Fairhill for planning approval on Easter Sunday as an alternative for a site at Meadow Lane which has been thrown into doubt.

Ian Nicholls, who is organising a campaign about the authority’s proposal and chaired the meeting on Monday, said: “Everyone unanimously agreed that the site is in an inappropriate location, close to a large electricity sub station, under overhead electric wires, near Sainsbury’s supermarket delivery bay, petrol station, car wash and recycling facility.

“It is wedged between a mainline railway line, a bypass and a proposed new bypass. The site layout does not follow national guidance and ignores local policies.”

Councillor Colleen Atkins, who represents Harpur ward, said: “We all want the council to get on with the Meadow Lane site which already has planning permission for 14 permanent pitches. The council should progress the work there and bring it to fruition, in which case, there is no need for Fairhill. £50,000 has already been spent on Meadow Lane and if it’s abandoned now that is money down the drain.

“I have grave concerns about the suitability of a Gypsy and Traveller site at Fairhill. None of us would want to live there, we wouldn’t put social housing there and we shouldn’t be putting caravans there.”

Councillor Louise King said: “I want to know why planners have not returned to the Homes and Communities Agency to seek an increase in the £1.2m grant they have received for the Meadow Lane site. We know there is much more money available in that pot. Fairhill poses significant dangers to the children that would live there, is badly designed, and the application is being rushed through.”