Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Development Plan Document

Strongly disagree

Larger villages such as Hollingbourne should be exempt from consideration for GTTP allocated plots and subsequent ‘windfall’ plots at later phases of this consultation. Lack of Facilities and Amenities - Hollingbourne has no village hall, no shop, no post office, no doctor, no dentist and no secondary school provision in the village. There is already limited scope for access to Hollingbourne Primary School for the settled community. Both this and the schools in the surrounding area will be oversubscribed in the next 4 years with the increase in planning for the settled population in these villages. Schools with large GTTP intake often see a reduction of the quality of education for the children of the settled residents. This due to lack of regular attendance and higher rates of non-attendance of the GTTP community. Hollingbourne Primary School has an intake of 15 children per year: the higher the proportion of GTTP children in a year’s cohort, the more significant the disruption in the school and the greater the negative impact on the educational outcomes for all children in that cohort. Protection of Heritage -There is a high prevalence of listed buildings Grade I, Grade II* and Grade III and three conservation areas close to some of the proposed sites. We should do everything to preserve the historic heritage of the area to attract travel and tourism and its economic benefits. Including GTTP pitches in the vicinity of these heritage sites will have a negative impact. Protection of the Natural Environment – Eyhorne St is the gateway to the Kent Downs AONB and has wonderful Kentish landscapes with diverse wildlife, flora and fauna. We should be minimising development on green belt, farmland and woodlands in the area. Roads such as Greenway Court Road, Hospital Lane and Greenway Lane are notorious hotspots for fly-tipping. MBC would need to demonstrate how this would be mitigated were the current and additional GTTP pitches approved. 400 metres is an insufficient radius and will have a negative impact on the settled community especially those on the outskirts of a larger village such as Eyhorne St. Any plan needs to demonstrate how it will minimise anti-social behaviour and rural crimes such as fly-tipping that often occur along rural roads. With regard to access to facilities and services, GTTP communities located 400m away from the larger village will still drive through the village to access facilities that are not provided in the village itself, adding to the already overburdened rural road network e.g. Eyhorne St, Greenway Court Road, Greenway Lane. Locating the pitches in places with greater access to facilities and on a road network that has the capacity to support the increase in the movements of large vehicles associated with a travelling community would be a better proposal.