Meriden villagers set for long battle against gipsies on green belt land
Could two gipsy camps set up on green fields in Solihull and Warwickshire be allowed to remain? Nick McCarthy reports.
Travellers who have set up a caravan park on a field in Meriden without planning permission have asked the local council to provide school places for their children.
Solihull Council, which issued a stop notice to prevent further development of the site at Eaves Green Lane last Saturday after travellers moved in, said it had a duty to provide gipsy children places at nearby schools.
Sue Brereton, a planning officer from Solihull council, said: “We have an obligation to satisfy needs for education of the children on the gipsy site. We have to look at the capacity of local schools to cater for children on the site.”
The council issued the stop notice a day after the travellers moved onto the site, provoking angry protests from residents.
Farmer Adam Beaty, who was part of a human blockade which was hastily formed at the weekend to prevent further building on the land, said: “Every taxpayer is entitled to an education and we would not want to see anyone denied that, but how can they leave a school and immediately appeal to get into another one? It’s totally ludicrous.
“I know it’s their life but they have to abide by the rules that govern us all.”
Resident Mavis Lapworth said she had heard the group had asked the council about accommodating 11 children. She added: “It’s not fair because it could have a knock-on effect on other children’s education.
“We have a really good school here which already has a waiting list so they must have to wait their turn like anyone else.”
Residents were also angry that the council has to find more locations in the area for gipsy travellers as part of a Government-led planning framework.
The human blockade of local residents prevented further development at the weekend as they turned away lorry loads of gravel from the site.
But 11 miles away, another group of gipsies were more successful in setting up a development at Hatton, near Warwick. They avoided little resistance when they moved in on Saturday and were able to set up about 20 caravans, create hardcore surfaces, lamposts and even garden sheds before Warwick District Council planners slapped a stop notice on the work on Sunday.
