Popular seaside resort residents outraged over planned traveller camp
www.bournemouth.gov.uk
A top UK tourist resort is likely to see a gipsy traveller camp set up permanently in the centre of its town.
Placard-carrying residents demonstrated outside the town hall in Bournemouth, where councillors were expected to approve the permanent site.
Locals are claiming that their town, which thrives on tourism and known as one of the most attractive seaside towns in Britain, will suffer from unsightly rubbish, antisocial behaviour and crime if the travellers are permitted to move in.
The site that has been earmarked for the camp has been described by councillors as the “least bad” option. It would permit travellers to establish camps just a few hundred yards from the seven-mile expanse of Bournemouth’s beaches, its ornamental gardens, shops and pier.
Gipsies and other travellers from across the UK could move into the camp, where space would be provided for parking as many as 36 caravans.
Residents have been fiercely opposed to the plan, and have launched a campaign urging others to “say no to the gipsy site”. Nearly 700 residents have signed an online petition indicating their opposition to the proposed site.
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www.bournemouth.gov.uk