Residents step up campaign against Travellers’ site plans - Sussex

From the Crawley & Horley Observer

Residents in Broadfield feel the council is not listening to their concerns over proposals for a Travellers’ site near Buchan Park.

As part of the Crawley 2029 local plan, Crawley Borough Council has proposed land at the former Broadfield kennels on the edge of Buchan Park should be a permanent Travellers’ site with 10 pitches.

The council has to show in the local plan it has made provision for Travellers who currently live in Crawley to move into caravans in the future if they wish.

Natalie Bingham and neighbours collected 1,107 signatures against the proposal in June and after submitting it to the council via Cllr Alan Quirk (Con, Broadfield South), they expected it to get a full council debate because it had more than 1,000 signatures.

Only last week did Natalie find out it was accepted as a response to the consultation and not as a separate petition.

She said: “I’m so annoyed about it. We never got any recognition. We just feel it’s a done deal. We feel let down by Cllr Quirk. It’s gone into the additional sites consultation, which is fair enough, but it looks like the people of Broadfield are not bothered. We feel all our efforts have gone by the way side. It’s saddening.”

More than 1,900 people expressed their views for and against the proposed Travellers’ site in Broadfield in the council’s consultation.

Cllr Quirk said: “I don’t think there should be a Travellers’ site there and I will do everything I can to support the residents. It is still up in the air and it’s going to take some time before the whole thing is decided.”

However, the council disputes it received a petition.

A spokesman said: “There was an organised response from a group in Broadfield who are against the proposal. They submitted just over 600 separate responses through the consultation questionnaire, not through the council’s petition scheme, which requires 1,000 signatures.

“Careful consideration was put toward this number of single issue responses and the council invited representative of the residents to comment on the proposal during the full council on July 24.”