I object to the Local Plan proposals for Overton Mill particularly on the grounds of:
- The site being unsuitable for Gypsy and Traveller communities.
- The unsustainable SWR train service through Overton.
You mention plans to ‘Provide for permanent Gypsy and Traveller pitches, proportinale [sic] to the size of the site’ at the Overton Mill site (Policy SP55.10). This site is unsuitable for Gypsy and Travellers pitches.
From the Gypsy and Traveller perspective: It is well-documented that these communities face significantly poorer mental health than the average population (Cleemput, 2008). Research shows that sites in ‘fringe’ locations, particularly those in close proximity to railways or sewage works, are a source of significant distress for Gypsies and Travellers (Cleemput, 2008). This is due to parental anxiety about having to restrict children’s’ opportunities for safe play away from the caravans. And yet, Basingstoke and Deane is proposing siting this community next to a sewage works and railway line.
Research also shows that Gypsy and Traveller mental health issues are further exacerbated by social isolation and loneliness – and so sites must be able to accommodate extended and extensive family groups regularly arriving (Cleemput, 2008). Further mental health issues are created by perceived forced assimilation within ‘regular’ housing communities, which are viewed as a threat to Gypsy and Traveller identity (Cleemput, 2008). And yet Basingstoke and Deane is proposing assimilating this community into a housing development, and in Overton – a village with a clear identity.
Research also shows that Gypsy and Traveller sites need to be away from noise (particularly railways) and for sites not to be hidden by mounds and barriers as some kind of threat or apology (Cleemput, 2008). And yet, Basingstoke and Deane is proposing siting this community 10 miles from Basingstoke, tucked away beyond the Overton village boundary, and next to a railway line. You are setting up the Gypsy and Traveller community to have significant mental health issues.
From the Overton village perspective: Cleemput (2008) and others note that gypsies and travellers are significantly more likely to have a long-term illness, health problem or disability which limits their daily activities or work, and maternal health is significantly worse with a significantly higher number of miscarriages. The ‘Draft Infrastructure Delivery Plan’ (Basingstoke and Deane (b), 2024) makes clear that Watership Down Health care provision (H7) is already over capacity and that population growth will exacerbate this further. And yet Basingstoke and Deane is proposing encouraging a community with a disproportionally high degree of complex long-term illness into the village, placing unsustainable pressures on village healthcare.
Internal and external conditions on Traveller sites are hazardous, with ten percent of amenity blocks judged to be unfit for purpose, with vermin infestations, unsafe storage of LPG cylinders and lack of basic fire safety standards (Cleemput, 2008). The site is on the edge of the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, the Test Valley Valued Landscape, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (The River Test) and the Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC). And yet Basingstoke and Deane is proposing encouraging a community which is unable to protect these nationally and globally valuable environments.
Further, I’d note that the Council has been somewhat dishonest in its public consultation events. You have failed to be transparent in your plan to include Gypsy and Travellers pitches.
From both the Gypsy/Traveller community perspective, and the Overton village perspective, the Overton Mill site is unsuitable for such development.
Cleemput, P. V. (2008). Health Impact of Gypsy Sites Policy in the UK. Social Policy and Society, 7(1), 103-117.