SOUTH Cambridgeshire MP Andrew Lansley is backing Cambourne residents in their fight to block a proposed travellers site in the village. Residents believe there are not enough facilities to cope with a travellers site and are annoyed that a decision to

SOUTH Cambridgeshire MP Andrew Lansley is backing Cambourne residents in their fight to block a proposed travellers' site in the village.

Residents believe there are not enough facilities to cope with a travellers' site and are annoyed that a decision to allow a site would discriminate against homeowners - people living in Cambourne are banned from parking caravans outside their houses.

Mr Lansley told a public meeting on Thursday, September 17 that he would oppose the proposal, describing it as "inherently undesirable".

About 100 residents - as well as Councillor Ray Manning, leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambourne's district councillor, David Morgan and chairman of Cambourne Parish Council David Tilley - attended the meeting organised by Cambourne Parish Council at the Hub community centre.

The village has been earmarked for 10 traveller pitches as part of Government plans to find 88 new permanent pitches across South Cambridgeshire by 2021.

At the meeting Mr Lansley said he will be objecting to the proposal on "a range of perfectly legitimate grounds".

One concern is that the site would take up land that could be used for social housing, he said.

Mr Lansley added that he found it "very unsatisfactory" that other villages had been able to comment on certain sites but in Cambourne no exact location had been identified.

He said: "As far as Cambourne is concerned we do not know where the sites could be so it would be very difficult to express an opinion."

At the meeting a number of residents who opposed the proposal said Cambourne simply was not "sustainable enough" and lacks the facilities to support a site.

One resident said: "We have a High Street that looks like Pompeii. Let's finish Cambourne before anything else is proposed."

Others added that a travellers' site was not included in the masterplan for Cambourne and suggested it would be better if the proposed shops and police station were built first.

INFORMATION: A public consultation on the proposal runs until October 9. People can give their say by visiting SCDC's website at www.scambs.gov.uk/ldf Do you support or oppose a travellers' site in Cambourne? Let us know why by e-mailing your views to editor@huntspost.co.uk or write to The Hunts Post, 30 High Street, Huntingdon, PE29 3TB.