Mansfield residents in call to stop potential travellers site

Residents have joined forces to urge a council to not turn scrap land into a traveller site, as they fear house prices will drop, traffic will increase and elderly residents will be targeted.
Residents and councillors are objecting to plans for a possible traveller site on Baums Lane, MansfieldResidents and councillors are objecting to plans for a possible traveller site on Baums Lane, Mansfield
Residents and councillors are objecting to plans for a possible traveller site on Baums Lane, Mansfield

Residents who live near the potential permanent site for travellers, gypsies and travelling show people, on Baums Lane, Mansfield, said the idea is “bad” and it should not be approved.

One resident Abigail Gibson, has lived on Central Avenue, across from the site, for 21 years and works in marketing, said she was concerned about traffic on the street, which meets with the A60, will get worse.

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The 24-year-old said: “We don’t want it, with the traffic on the road and the deprecation of our properties.

“And we are concerned that elderly residents will be exploited.”

So far Mansfield District Council has put forward 15 sites in the district for consultation, as part of a central government scheme which is asking local authorities to provide permanent sites.

However, out of the 15 being consulted upon only four need to be selected.

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Terry Sutton, aged 75, has lived on Meadow Avenue, which runs off Baums Lane, for 47 years.

He said: “It is not a safe location, it is on a bend. Most of the time we can’t get out of the A60 junction.”

The vacant land use to be a metal stock holders and later a scrap yard has been vacant for years and is up for sale.

Robert Papp-Burnett, aged 66, works part-time in recycling and lives on Park View way with his wife, he said: “The bungalows we live in are behind the site, there are a lot of elderly women on their own. I know people will feel unsafe in their homes. People will come and go from the site and people won’t be able to cope with it. It would be an ideal nature park.”

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Councillor Dave Saunders, who represents Sandhurst ward, on Mansfield District Council, which the site falls under, said: “There is a need for these sites but we have to be very careful about where we place them.

“It is a brown site -which I prefer the council to use. But the A60 is bad enough at the moment. Everyone should have their say about this. It is a concerning time for all.”

The next public consultation will take place at Turner Hall in Mansfield Woodhouse, on September 2,