Dear Friends and Neighbours,

Now that Christmas and New Year are behind us and we are getting back to the daily grind of reality, we thought it would be a good opportunity to remind everyone of the need to register your comments on the unauthorised  Traveller site on the land behind Rampiers – Silchester / Culhams Mill.  We are aware that we have now been fighting this battle for nearly three years and there will have been plenty of new people that have moved into Silchester and Little London in the meantime….so please do spread the word  and forward this email to anyone that may not be aware of this issue.

When the first tipper lorries started rolling through our community at Easter 2017 the planning team at Basingstoke and Deane received over 300 telephone calls and emails of complaint before they concluded that they were unable to log any further calls.  In response to the planning application itself over 230 individuals took the time to register a written objection.  Whilst we have been successful at every stage of the process so-far, the application has now moved to the appeal stage with the Planning Inspectorate (note this is a higher planning level than BDBC and represents The Secretary of State), the whole process starts again and our previous objections need repeating.  

We really want to emphasise the need to avoid complacency and, if this issue still matters to our community, then we encourage everyone to raise a further objection with the Planning Inspector either by using the Calleva Society template (see below) or by drafting your own objection.  At present, we are aware of only a handful of objections having been submitted so please don’t think your contribution will not make a difference.  The deadline for submission is the 13th of January and, having come this far, it would be a great shame for us to fall at the last hurdle through apathy or simple forgetfulness.  

Since its inception the Calleva Society has urged residents to take a measured approach to this planning application and we have encouraged people to avoid any comments about the Traveller way of life or their personal perceptions about how Travellers conduct their affairs.  All sectors of society have the same basic personal needs and we all deserve the right to live our lives peacefully and with respect for our neighbours.  This said, there is plenty of evidence to indicate that anti-social behaviour is associated with large Traveller sites……whether this be from the occupants themselves, members of the settled community or from opportunists from neighbouring communities that see the chance of blaming the travelling community for their own anti-social, and often criminal, behaviour.  If this site is granted permission it will be the largest single traveller site in the Borough (currently 10-13 pitches with room for expansion in the future) and the consequences will be something that we will have to live with for a very long time.

Please take the opportunity now to have your voice heard and register your thoughts with the planning inspectorate. We have prepared a template representation which is on the Calleva Society Website click here. The pdf version can be printed and signed for submission by post or the word version can be used as an email.
Templates are called  Residents letter to appeal Jan 2020 can be found click here

You can send representations by email to TeamE1@planninginspectorate.gov.uk  or three copies by post to :
The Planning Inspectorate
Room 3E
Temple Quay House
2 The Square Bristol
BS1 6PN,

All representations must quote  APP/H1705/C/18/3210244 and be received by 13 January 2020
Please let us have copies of emails or further information requests to callevasociety@gmail.com

The planning Inspectorate have stated they would prefer submissions to be made via their on-line portal click here  This portal is very slow and can be a bit of a slog but please if it does not work for you or you do not have access   – submit your comments by email or post. Help with using the portal can be downloaded by clicking here

Please remember representations are per individual not per household, so every occupant at a property can submit.

Regards

Steve Spillane, Simon Mahaffey and the team.

Calleva Society

callevasociety@gmail.com
www.callevasociety.org or to donate https://callevasociety.org/make-a-donation/