Monday, October 10, 2011

The Wyre Forest Traveller site debacle Part 2

My father drew attention to something that he read in the Shuttle; not wanting to take either his or their word for it I decided to read the actual Baker Associates Report. Page 28 section 5.16 lists 5

potentially suitable sites for Gypsies and Travellers
these are:

Yard south of A456 - Clows Top
Land off Lowe Lane - Fairfield
Land off Wilden Top Road - Wilden
The Gables Yard - Stourport-on-Severn
Open land north of Sutton Park Rise - Kidderminster.

On page 42 section 8.6 a further 10 sites are added as
having potential constraints, but are considered worthy of further investigation for Gypsy, Traveller and/or Travelling Showpeople either to supplement or replace shortlisted sites in the short to medium term and to provide for long term needs, if required.

They are:

Land north of Habberley Road - Bewdley
Site at Stourport Road - Bewdley
Former Blakedown Nurseries - Blakedown
Land at Lawnswood - Cookley
Former school site - Kidderminster
Lea Castle hospital site - Kidderminster
Land adjacent Nunn's Corner - Stourport-on-Severn
Saiwen - Stourport
Former depot - Stone
Redundant farm, St John's Road - Stourport-on-Severn

As I and others have mentioned of these sites the Cabinet is allowing 7 through for public consultation. They are:

Site at Stourport Road, Bewdley
Former Sion Hill School Site, Kidderminster
Lea Castle Hospital Site, Cookley, Nr Kidderminster
Land adjacent Nunn’s Corner, Stourport-on-Severn
Saiwen, Stourport-on-Severn
The Gables Yard, Stourport-on-Severn
Farm, St John’s Road, Stourport-on-Severn

That is of the 5 sites shortlisted only one is on the public list, the other 6 were listed only for "further investigation" or to replace the shortlisted sites  in the "short to medium term". Perhaps any member of the Cabinet would care to make known exactly why four-fifths of the 'proper' list needed to be replaced and given this need what value for money this £17.5k report gave us?

To put it another way either Baker Associates got four of the five main sites wrong for reasons they didn't investigate or they got them wrong for reasons they couldn't know.

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