‘Dumping ground’ fears over new permanent site for travellers
DERBY councillors claim a potential new traveller site would risk turning part of the city into a “dumping ground”.
This week it was revealed Derby City Council has considered turning the former Ivy House School site, off Bateman Street and Osmaston Road, a permanent site for travellers. Now city councillors representing the Arboretum ward say it would not be a suitable home for travellers.
They claim the area, one of the most deprived in the city, has enough of its own existing issues to solve first. The Labour councillors also say other areas of the city, with more open space, such as Oakwood and Spondon, would be better suited.
Cllr Fareed Hussain said: “There is already a heavy concentration of social services to disadvantaged individuals in this part of the city. About 50 per cent of the services offered to disadvantaged people in the city are concentrated in Arboretum ward, close to where this site is.
“I don’t think it is a good idea to cluster all the disadvantaged into one small community. They need to find another site.
“Of all the people with particular complex needs, such as drug addiction or alcohol addiction, and need intense support from services, something like 50 per cent of those services offered to those people, half are in Arboretum and half are in the rest of the city.
“These services and these sites are obviously needed, but they need to be spread more fairly and evenly across the city, rather than concentrate them in one area. Otherwise, this area will become a bit of a dumping ground and it becomes almost impossible to turn it around.
“There are existing difficulties that we already have and the police are already very concerned.
“We have something like 37 offlicences on Pear Tree Road and Normanton Road, we have a serious problem with people who abuse alcohol and they don’t need to walk very far at all to get their alcohol.
“There are some difficulties and some problems associated with having a traveller site and there is speculation that having a traveller site will cause some difficulties for local residents.
“This just adds to the existing difficulties we already have, if there are any problems arising from it.
“We want Arboretum ward to still remain attractive to families and children and to older people. A thriving community should have a fair mix of everything.” He said the authority should look at other potential sites which would be more suitable.
Cllr Gulfraz Nawaz, who also represents Arboretum, said: “It is very wrong what they are doing if they are wanting to put a travellers’ rest there because we wanted a sports complex.
“There is no sports complex around here in Arboretum and the place is big enough to have a cricket pitch or a football pitch. We have got no issue against housing, but not a travellers’ rest.
“Why don’t they put a place in north of the city. There are plenty of places north of the city. They can go to Spondon, Oakwood and Mickleover, there are plenty of places there.”
Cllr Nawaz said he had not been told by officers that the site had been considered as a traveller site. He said he found out via an article in the Derby Telegraph.
Cllr Hussain also said he had no previous knowledge of the site being considered but said “rumours were circling”.
Mike Doherty, from the Travellers’ Times, said: “Research has shown that there is a dire lack of permanent and transit council Gypsy and traveller sites across England and Wales and when gypsies and travellers try to develop their own sites on their own land they come up against stringently applied planning laws and hostile local councillors leading local anti-traveller campaign groups.
“Without knowing the full details of this situation we would tentatively commend Derby City Council for at least planning for more site provision.
“Mixed developments which include traveller sites are a potential way forward to solving the accommodation crisis for Gypsy and traveller people who want to live on sites.
“Everybody needs somewhere to live.”