Following the Tories gaining control of the City Council in the May elections, the Council on 14th May resolved that the Gypsy and Traveller Site at Monk’s Brook be deleted from the 2008/9 improvement plan.

As Shelley Anderson told us in the last Newsletter, an application was made for Monks Brook to be designated as a village green on the grounds that it has been used by the inhabitants to indulge in sports and pastimes as of right for not less than 20 years. It is certainly rare for residents to be able to put such a big spoke in the Council’s wheel. A travellers’ transit site would clearly be incompatible with village green status but even if the application is unsuccessful, the process will take at least 9 months and probably longer. The delay is estimated to add at least £100,000 to the cost of the transit site. The case for village green status will be examined at a public enquiry led by an independent inspector.

As many of you may be aware, through both the reports in the media and in the
HCERA newsletter, the former Liberal Democrat council proposed a plan to develop
a travellers’ transit site at Monks Brook close to the Bassett Green
Conservation area. Many residents from the Collins community have been involved
in the campaign and huge thanks go to Ray George for keeping the website up to
date with the issue. At this point, it is important to reiterate that this is
not the end of the story, we are still fighting to save this beautiful piece of
land. On Monday 17th September an application was sent to Hampshire County
Council and Southampton City Council to designate Monks Brook as a Village
Green. The land here has been used for recreational activities within the
community for many years and we hope that it can continue to be used for this
purpose. We agree the city needs amenities such as the transit site, however, we
believe there are many more appropriate ‘brown field’ sites that could
accommodate the proposal without the loss of an area of semi-rural woodland
which is precious to so many people in the local community.

At their meeting on 20th June the Planning and Rights of Way Panel granted planning permission for the Travellers’ Transit Site at Monks Brook, Stoneham Way.

The Government Office for South East (GOSE) has informed the council that the bid for £997,000 has been successful in passing the assessment stages and has been approved by the Regional Housing Board. It is now with the Minister for final announcement, which is imminent.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration, Councillor Royston Smith, will seek the approval of the Cabinet not to implement the planning permission and to reject the funding of £997,000 for the development of the transit site at Monks Brook.

However a meeting of the Council on 18th July at 2pm will consider a motion reaffirming its commitment to the travellers’ transit site at Monks Brook and requiring it to be implemented as soon as practicable.

The proposed travellers’ transit site has now been submitted for planning
approval (Application no. 07/00484/FUL
).

It will be first advertised on 19th
April. Representations should be sent to Development Control Services, Civic
Centre, Southampton, SO14 7LS. Comments may also be submitted on-line.

There is a link to this planning application on our website, which also has many
other links about the travellers’ transit site including numerous items that
have appeared in the Daily Echo.

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Proposed traveller's site

The City Council is proposing to establish a travellers’ transit site off Stoneham Way. There will be accommodation for about 12 caravans and travellers will be able to stay for short periods of up to 3 months.

The proposal goes to the Cabinet on February 5th for decision. If approved, a planning application will then be made and there will be a drop-in session for the public from 10am to 1pm on Saturday 10th February as part of the consultation process. The venue has not yet been announced; there will be a notice in Swaythling Post Office or see our web-site for more information.