Our little village is in uproar. There has been a planning application submitted to build a private trailer park to accommodate gypsy families on a field just at the outskirts of the village - right across the road from my house. Whilst understanding of the need for this type of site, in this case I am very definitely a NIMBY! Actually, I'd be opposed to any building over there no matter what the purpose...given the choice between looking out over buildings or tree-lined fields filled with sheep, give me the fields anytime!
There was a Parish Council meeting on Tuesday which was absolutely packed out. Opposition to the development is pretty strong and people were putting forward their objections about maintaining the gap between Malvern and our village to maintain our rural identity, the unsuitability of the roads for access to this site, etc etc. All was going calmly until someone stood up and accused everyone there of racism as people kept mentioning gypsies. Erm, hello...the official planning application was entitled "Mobile home site for Gypsy Families"... what were folks supposed to be discussing? One chap took the accusation particularly badly (which was the aim of the accuser) and I did think there might be a punch up at one point, but everyone else handled it well. The official title of the application was pointed out to him, along with the fact that ANY development of this area would be met with the same objections (in fact an equestrian centre was opposed for the same reasons a few months ago). What a to do!
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