'They've let us down' - residents' anger over Poole council's decision to back transit site plans - Dorset

From the Daily echo

Creekmoor residents reacted with fury following Borough of Poole’s ruling to back plans for two temporary stopping sites for Gypsies and Travellers.

Many of them live in close proximity to where the main 27-pitch Marshes End site will be located, and are worried about possible increases in anti-social behaviour and tensions in the area.

The council voted in favour of a motion to prepare and submit planning applications for the Marshes End site, and a smaller four-pitch temporary stopping site on land off Broadstone Way.

Residents of Creekmoor’s Hazelbury Close said they felt let down by the decision and that their voices had not been heard on the issue.

Carol Snelling, aged 66, who attended Monday evening’s tense Civic Centre meeting, said: “It’s disgusting. I feel that it was all signed and stamped before we knew anything about it.

“If it does go ahead, the land is full of asbestos and they wouldn’t allow anyone to build on it. Also, how long are they going to stay there for?”

Meanwhile, neighbours Jim, aged 77, and 68-year-old Win Harris, who have lived in the area for the past six years, told the Daily Echo of their “disappointment” the site would be going ahead.

Win added: “The council are cutting the bus services, yet they can afford to do this and we weren’t consulted like they said. With the contamination, should they be putting anything on that land, Travellers or not?”

Thirty-year Hazelbury Road resident Syd Tongs echoed sentiments that locals had not been fully consulted on the issue.

The 66-year-old said: “The first we knew about this was last week when Cllr Judy Butt’s meeting held in Creekmoor. It seems that the councillors didn’t have a clue, I think they just voted for it because it is not going to be in their ward.”

Neighbour Christopher Gregory, 60, said it seemed as though some councillors had made up their minds before putting it to residents.

He said: “I got a leaflet through last week to say that there was an ‘urgent meeting tonight’, which I couldn’t attend. In the past, however, my experiences with Travellers have always been bad.”