Around 200 residents attended a public meeting in St George on Friday evening to object to plans to establish a gypsy/traveller transit site near their village.
Clwyd West AM Darren Millar organised the meeting after many constituents contacted him with concerns about Conwy County Borough Council's plans to locate the site for stays of up to 28 days at the former Smithy layby in St George, which is between Abergele and Bodelwyddan.
Before Christmas Darren wrote to the Council Leader, Cllr Dilwyn Roberts, highlighting objections to the proposals and urging the local authority to hold fire on any decisions until after the public meeting.
At the meeting it was decided that a Gypsy/Traveller Site Action Group should be established to lead the campaign against the proposals. The Action Group will hold its first meeting at 6.30pm this Thursday at Abergele Town Council Offices, Llanddulas Road, Abergele, LL22 7BT, during which a committee will be appointed and a campaign strategy discussed.
Darren, who chaired the public meeting, said:
“The turnout at Friday’s meeting demonstrates the strength of feeling about these proposals. As I said at the meeting Conwy Council should scrap these ridiculous proposals and come up with alternatives.
“Residents are concerned about impact that a site would have in the locality and the experiences of people elsewhere where sites have been developed has made them all the more determined to defeat these proposals. St George is a lovely, quiet village, to even consider allowing a gypsy site at this location is ludicrous.
"I look forward to working with the Action Group and local councillors to see these plans scrapped."
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Scores of people at the public meting in St George.
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Clwyd West AM Darren Millar addresses the packed public meeting in St George on Friday evening.