Shake-up will lead to faster Gypsy evictions

Thursday, March 25, 2010, 07:40

A SHAKE-UP in planning rules will cut the time it takes to evict Gypsies and travellers from unauthorised developments.
Last autumn three Gypsy families were given six months to quit after Plymouth City Council planning committee turned down two retrospective applications to stay on plots on Ridge Road, Plympton.

The council admitted later that appeals against the decision could take up to 12 months.

John Denham, the Communities Secretary, yesterday welcomed new planning rules which will speed up the enforcement process so that quicker action can be taken against developments without planning permission such as unauthorised Gypsy and Traveller sites.

The new rules will take effect next month, slashing the time that must elapse before local authorities can take action against unauthorised camps, and other developments lacking planning permission.

From April 6, the time allowed to lodge an appeal will be reduced from six months to 28 days.

Read More: http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Shake-lead-faster-Gypsy-evictions/article-1943236-detail/article.html

Boris wants to cut targets for London Gypsy sites by half

24 March 2010

By Mike Brooke

BORIS Johnson wants to cut by half the target for the number of Gypsy and Traveller sites London must provide.

The original target of 538 included in the Mayor’s draft London Plan highlighted doubts that the target could be met, following public consultations which ended in January.

So he is now suggesting 238 sites instead, a “more sustainable and deliverable target” which was published yesterday.

Read More: http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/content/towerhamlets/advertiser/news/story.aspx?brand=ELAOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsela&itemid=WeED24%20Mar%202010%2019%3A45%3A43%3A980

Cash to improve campsites

Scottish councils to share £2m to upgrade amenities for gypsy travellers

By Ross Davidson

Published: 22/03/2010

Millions of pounds have been given to Scottish councils to upgrade campsites for travellers.

Local authorities have shared £2million in the last two years to improve sites set aside for gypsy travellers.

Upgrades to come from the Scottish Government grants include the installation of CCTV cameras at pitches and insulation to help cut travellers’ energy bills.

Official figures released by Housing Minister Alex Neil show 12 local authorities have received funding from the government.

The policy of issuing grants to councils was introduced to make local authorities responsible for providing authorised campsites to draw travellers away from illegal sites.

Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1656501/?UserKey=#ixzz0iul47oNJ

Harassment claim by trio of councillors accused of bullying Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1656574?UserKey=#ixzz0iujmkT15

Council Officials reported over treatment of members

By Iain Ramage

Published: 22/03/2010

 

THREE Highland councillors accused of bullying senior staff, while trying to get the authority to deal with unlawful gypsy encampments, have lodged a counter-complaint.

The councillors allege they have been harassed by the senior officials involved.

Inverness area members John Holden, Bob Wynd and Glynis Sinclair are the subject of an internal inquiry and an investigation is being made by the Standards Commission for Scotland.

The Press and Journal has learned they have registered their own complaint with council chiefs about the way they have been treated by officials who complained about them.

Labour’s Mr Holden, Mr Wynd of the SNP and Ms Sinclair, a Liberal Democrat, allegedly bullied three senior council staff over the time taken to deal with two illegal encampments in Inverness.

The GMB union intends taking the council and the three councillors to an industrial tribunal on behalf of two of the staff involved.

Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1656574?UserKey=#ixzz0iuk0Q7te

Gypsy and Traveller film to challenge prejudices

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 By Emily Twinch

A media charity has produced a film promoting the need for more Gypsy and Traveller sites.

The Rural Media Company’s DVD, Sites and Rights, features a series of interviews to try to dispel prejudices.

It starts by saying 150,000 Gypsies and Travellers live in houses or on unauthorised sites in England and Wales and that a recent audit revealed nearly 4,000 families had no legitimate stopping places, short or long.

Luke Clements, from Cardiff Law School, says in the video: ‘There aren’t enough sites and there are upwards of 3,000 families with nowhere to live.

‘Once a site has been built, people forget it’s there. If every borough council gave one or two permissions a year the problem would cease to exist.’

There are interviews with people who have changed their minds about Travellers and Gypsies, such as resident David Hilden from Warwickshire.

Since they moved in next to his home he says in the film ‘they’re no trouble at all’.

Viewers are also given a tour of Roma Gypsy Bobbie Jones’ family home.

A Communities and Local Government department annual progress report on the government’s policy of increasing site provision, published last month, concluded: ‘The current position on site delivery remains unsatisfactory.

‘It is clear that local authorities need to increase the pace at which suitable locations are identified that can be used as Gypsy and Traveller sites.’

SOLE STREET: Complaints about gypsies are 'racist' says farm owner

1:55pm Monday 24th August 2009

By Michael Purton

A FARM owner has hit back at criticism of her decision to rent a field to gypsies, saying the complaints are racist.

Last week Beverley Smit rented one field of her 50 acre home, Cranbourne Farm in Sole Street, to a travelling pentecostal gypsy church.

Around 300 people in almost 200 caravans stayed in the field off Copt Hall Road until Sunday (August 23), holding services and welcoming local residents to join them.

(MORE)

However, many residents complained to Gravesham Council, with leader Councillor Mike Snelling saying he had been “inundated with calls”, and a Daily Mail article today called Mrs Smit a “villain”.

The 56-year-old, who has owned the farm for ten years, said: “The people who stayed in the field are Christians who want to spread the word of God, and they caused no trouble while they were here.

Grahame warns caution after Lamont claims possible rise in gypsy camps

Published Date: 22 July 2009

By Mark Entwistle

LOCAL MSP Christine Grahame says comments concerning gypsies made by Holyrood colleague John Lamont may border on being racist.

The South of Scotland nationalist MSP was responding to a statement issued this week by Mr Lamont, the Conservative MSP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire.

Mr Lamont claims to have highlighted a loophole in legislation which he says could see a rise in the number of gypsy sites in the Borders.

He says the Government has indicated that gypsies should be legally entitled to set up campsites anywhere in Scotland – without the fear of police interference – in order that their human rights are not infringed.

And, according to Mr Lamont, such legislation could see a situation whereby rules were vastly different between Scotland and England, leading to gypsy communities crossing the border into Scotland to take advantage of the law.

"Our communities should be afforded the same protection of public health and local amenities as down south. It's disappointing that the Scottish Government doesn't appear to take the same view.

"Different rules between Scotland and the rest of the UK could have a significant effect on border regions such as our own. I wouldn't like to think this is giving a green light to a proliferation of illegal campsites in our communities."

However, Ms Grahame warned Mr Lamont: "I would caution him on his use of language and singling out of the gypsy community as there is a danger his comments could lead to trouble and may border on being racist.

"The Scottish Borders, especially around the Kirk Yetholm area has a long and positive association with the gypsy community going back several hundred years.

"Mr Lamont should reflect on the fact that this issue was discussed at length by the equal opportunities committee at the Scottish Parliament. The committee unanimously backed the proposals now under attack by Mr Lamont."

Told of Ms Grahame's reaction to his comments, Mr Lamont responded: "This is complete nonsense. Why should the rights of gypsies and travellers take precedence over the rights of established communities?"

In a statement to TheSouthern this week, Scottish Borders Council explained it had statutory duties to meet the needs of gypsy travellers and of other members of the public, local businesses and landowners.

"Scottish Borders Council has one formally designated gypsy traveller site in the Borders (at Innerleithen) and is actively considering alternative site options to further meet the needs of gypsy travellers," said a spokesperson.

But according to the Scottish Government, concerns expressed by Mr Lamont appear to be stemming from confusion over the introduction of new temporary stop notices which are designed to allow local authorities to immediately halt unauthorised works, such as building works without planning consent.

A Government spokesman told TheSouthern that such notices cannot be used to evict people from their homes or caravans, and this fact had led to some incorrect coverage in the national press, suggesting that the measures would make it easier for travellers to set up illegal campsites.

"But this is not the case, as local authorities such as Scottish Borders Council still retain the powers they have always had to deal with unauthorised campsites and to move people on from such sites," said the spokesman.

However, Mr Lamont says there will be widespread confusion over what exactly the situation is and told TheSouthern that gypsies/travellers at St Boswells for their annual fair this month had expressed the belief that the new legislation surrounding the new notices would give them increased protection from being moved on.

Mr Lamont added: "These new notices could have knock-on consequences and it would be better to debate this issue further, instead of later having to pick apart an unholy mess of ambiguities.

Gypsies, citizens without rights

Friday 22 May 2009

FRANCE 24’s reporter went to meet gypsies in Russia. Considered second class citizens, they are victims of numerous discriminations. This report was filmed in Chudovo, south of Saint-Petersburg.

(MORE)

Anger at travellers' camp

Travellers set up camp in a field near Newent despite a last-minute council attempt to stop them.

A dozen families arrived at the field on Friday and worked around the clock to make the site their home.

They laid a hard surface, put up portable toilets, dug a cesspit and 12 separate plots were fenced off.

It is understood the site is privately owned by one or more of the travelling community but no planning permission for residential use has been made.

The travellers insist they are using the land at Southend Lane after failing to find an adequate home elsewhere in the county.

A spokesman for the group, called Sam, said they wanted to be good neighbours.

"We are honest, law abiding citizens who just want a place to live," he said.

"We have applied to the council to give us a home on a number of occasions, but with no joy.

"We don't want to cause our new neighbours any harm and want to get on with them as anyone else would."

(MORE)

Italy: Mayor 'pays' Roma-Gypsies to leave the city

Pisa, 21 May (AKI) - The mayor of the central Italian city of Pisa, Marco Filippeschi said the city was paying Roma-Gypsies who lived on the outskirts of the city to leave. "We send them back to their home in Romania," said Filippeschi, quoted by Italian daily 'Il Giornale'.

Filippeschi, from the centre-left Democratic Party, said he decided to demolish the shanty towns along the Aurelia and behind the hospital of Cisanello.

"The initiative has been coming for a long time. It involves 42 Roma-Gypsies from Romania, European Union citizens, who have voluntarily chosen to take part," said Filippeschi.

"As a grant to the families, the initiative cost 21,500 euros (or 511,90 per person), or a total of 30,000 including the bus trip escorted by the Red Cross. We cannot say that this is an exhorbitant price."

The group of Roma-Gypsies were taken to the Romanian city of Craiova, located in southwest Romania.

Filippeschi, when asked whether he was a member of the Northern League party known for its anti-immigrant and anti-Gypsy stance, insisted he was a member of the Democratic Party and this was not a deportation.

"By no means. I am a member of the PD. This was not a deportation, you know?. Everything was done respecting the law, informing the prefecture, police headquarters and the relevant foreign ministries. It is called 'voluntary repatriation' anyway."

The mayor said that the area of Pisa hosts around 1,000 Roma-Gypsies, half of whom live in villages where they pay rent or expenses, and the other half who live as squatters in makeshift huts.

"This winter there was a major flood in one of the camps and now the fire season is about to begin. Many of the illegal immigrants are targeted by the police for crimes such as thefts and receiving stolen goods," said Filippeschi.

Funds for the repatriation were taken from a European fund for immigration set aside for the region of Tuscany.

Under the agreement with the Roma-Gypsies the administration pays for a 'soft' return home, and in return, they commit not to come back to Italy for at least a year.

According to Filippeschi, it would be more costly for the Roma-Gypsies to return because their shacks have already been demolished and the areas already reclaimed.

There are 70,000 Roma-Gypsies in the country who are Italian citizens. Many others come from European Union countries such as Romania and Slovakia while others came from the Balkans.

Romanians are currently the largest immigrant group, and many Roma Gypsies have Romanian nationality.

Standing up for the gypsies

The largest illegal travellers' camp in Britain has found a divine ally in its survival battle. Jerome Taylor reports

Friday, 15 May 2009

To say that Marianne McCarthy is house-proud would be something of an understatement. The dainty gravel garden outside her two bedroom prefab is immaculately kept, boasting two freshly painted miniature cannons and a host of cheerful garden gnomes to greet her visitors. Step through her front door and the inside of the house is spotless. A gleaming white kitchen with clear plastic stools leads into a sparse but welcoming sitting room where a simple crucifix, two chandeliers and an embroidered "God Bless Home" sign are the room's only adornments.

It's a far cry from what outsiders might expect the 68-year-old widow's home to look like. "Most people think this area will be filthy, with rubbish and sewage and everything," she says. "They think we're dangerous and that you have to come with bullet-proof vests. We've had to put up with all sort of accusations."

Mrs McCarthy expects people to have a negative perception of her modest dwelling because the "estate" on which she lives, Dale Farm, where she has called home for the past seven years, is the largest illegal gypsy site in the country.

(MORE)

Gypsy families in Kosovo on toxic land

NORTH MITROVICA, Kosovo No one seems to care about the gypsies.

Displaced by conflict and stranded by bureaucratic inertia, dozens of gypsy families remain on toxic land 10 years after they were relocated there by the United Nations after the Kosovo war.

Lead blackens the children's teeth, blanks out memories and stunts growth. Other symptoms of lead poisoning include aggressive behavior, nervousness, dizziness, vomiting and high fever. The children swing between bursts of nervous hyperactivity and fainting spells. Some have epileptic fits.

The two resettlement camps — the Osterrode and Chesmin Lug — were established by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1999 for gypsies, or Roma, as they are more commonly known in Europe. A traditionally nomadic people, the Roma share a common heritage that sets them apart as an ethnic group, with their largest populations in Central and Eastern Europe.

(MORE)

Packed gypsy meeting in Risborough attended by 350 residents

Published Date: 24 April 2009

A MEETING to discuss the arrival of gypsies near Princes Risborough held last night was so well attended that around 150 could not get in.

The 200 people who did manage to cram into The Royal British Legion Hall on Thursday heard from police, councillors, planning officers and the secretary of the Gypsy Council regarding the arrival of the gypsies at Hemley Hill off of Shootacre Lane.

Residents were angry that the gypsies had not asked for planning permission before starting development on the site, which they have bought.

Wycombe District Council is now preventing development through a stop notice.

Alistair Nicholson, development control manager at WDC, said the council was currently gathering information on the site and was visiting on a regular basis to make sure further development was not taking place.

However, he said that the erection of fences around the site was permitted.

He added that in his experience these type of planning issues last for 'months rather than weeks'- he cited one example where because of appeals, it had taken two years to resolve.

Joseph Jones, secretary of the Gypsy Council and based in Bucks, said the extended gypsy family had no where else to go- but if the council could find them a more suitable site, then it might be possible for them to move there.

Neighbourhood inspector for Wycombe Rural district, Insp Ray Wilks, said: "At the end of the day we have a little addition to the community and they will be policed the same way as the rest of you.

"We will deal with any reported crime and make sure no one is harassed on either side."

He added that there was an 'awful lot of rumours going around' but that crime had not gone up since their arrival.

At the end of the evening, deputy leader of WDC, Cllr David Carroll, who chaired the meeting, praised the behaviour of those who attended:

"I thought it would be a very difficult meeting to be honest but you made it very easy for me so my thanks to you. We are all up front and being honest."

Gypsies 'won't be a bother to anyone'

Published Date: 22 April 2009

THE backlash to the arrival of gypsies on a site near Princes Risborough is 'nothing new,' the secretary of The Gypsy Council has said.

Joseph Jones, who runs the floating support service for the gypsy and traveller community in Bucks, and who has visited the family at Hemley Hill, said: "There's bound to be people who are concerned, it is fear of the unknown and it is the bad press which the gypsy-traveller community always gets."

He blamed local councils in Buckinghamshire for not doing enough to identify sites where gypsies and travellers could settle, adding that he expected any planning application to go to appeal, where 'two out three cases are successful'.

A local resident who spoke to The Bucks Herald, who asked not to be identified, said locals feared an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour, which Mr Jones denied would be the case.

"There is crime and there are criminals but there is no such thing as gypsy crime," he said. "Criminals come from any community."

Speaking at the site, gypsy Eileen Cash said she was positive about the welcome they had received from nearby residents.

"So far the people have been very nice from what we know of them but we don't know what they're saying behind our backs," she said.

She said the nine families who will live on nine pitches were all extended family.

They include a 22-year-old blind woman who needs a permament home in order to be able to get a guide dog, and an 'old lady who is very very ill' who also needs a permament base for medical reasons.

"We will keep ourselves to ourselves, no noise and we wont bother anybody," she said. "Residents would not bother us so we wont bother them.

She said that they want to tidy up the site, install a play area for children and exchange caravans on the site for mobile homes. "It will be nice and respectable, a very pemament site. I want to spend the rest of my life here," she said.

Gypsies relocated by UN remain on toxic land

Refugees from Kosovo conflict have developed severe health problems after decade on contaminated land.

By J. Malcolm Garcia - Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
Published: April 14, 2009 21:02 ET
Updated: April 14, 2009 22:21 ET-A

NORTH MITROVICA, Kosovo — Displaced by conflict and stranded by bureaucratic inertia, dozens of Roma families remain on toxic land 10 years after they were relocated there by the United Nations following the Kosovo war.

Osterrode Camp and Chesmin Lug Camp were established by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1999 as a temporary measure, when the 9,000-member Roma or gypsy neighborhood on the southern shore of the Ibar River was burnt down by Albanians in the dying days of the Kosovo conflict. The Albanians had accused the Roma of collaborating with the Serb army, a charge the Roma dismiss as unfounded.

Whatever the truth behind the charges and denials, almost everyone agrees that moving Roma families near the now closed Trepca mining and smelting complex, onto land highly contaminated with lead, zinc, arsenic and other metals, has resulted in severe health problems in the community.

When the World Health Organization tested the Roma's blood for lead in 2004, the readings for 90 percent of the children were off the scale, higher than the medical equipment was capable of measuring. Such children fall into the category of "acute medical emergency" and require immediate hospitalization.

Instead they have remained in the camps, ingesting lead through the air, the dirt they play in and through their clothes dusted with lead tailings while drying on laundry lines. Even before their birth, lead enters their bodies from drinking water consumed by their mothers.

According to internationally accepted benchmarks drawn up by the United States Center for Disease Control, 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter causes the beginning of brain damage.

The measurements from the camps were much higher than in the surrounding population and at levels that exceeded any region WHO had previously studied. Twelve children had exceptionally high blood lead levels, greater than 45 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, more than four times the amount that causes brain damage.

"The Roma are victimized by lead," said Thomas Hammarberg, European commissioner for human rights. "It is sad the international community has not found a solution 10 years later. It is the single most major environmental disaster in Europe."

Zoran Savich, a pediatrician with the Health Center of Kosovo Mitrovica, saw more than 300 patients in Osterrode and Chesmin Lug between 2005 and 2008.

In that time, Savich said, 77 people died of lead poisoning, many of them children.

"I treated as many I could but they were living in the same conditions and absorbing lead,” Savich said. “When the treatments stopped, their levels went back up. It was useless."

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since June 1999, after the NATO bombing campaign on the troops of then-president Slobodan Milosevic, aimed at halting Belgrade's repression of the majority ethnic Albanian population seeking independence.

(MORE)

MOB ATTACKS GYPSY CAMP IN SOUTHERN CHILE

Written by Cathal Sheerin
Monday, 13 April 2009

A mob of more than 100 people attacked a gypsy encampment near southern Chile's Puerto Montt (Region X) last Friday. The attackers reportedly sought to avenge the death of a local resident, whom they wrongly believed was killed by a gypsy.

The crowd of locals used fire and stones as weapons against what authorities called a peaceful gypsy community that had been there since November 2008.

The crowd had been acting in the belief that a gypsy was responsible for the recent hit-and run accident which killed a local man, Juan Alvarado, 29. Police maintain there is no gypsy connection to the accident.

Four cars were set on fire, and tents and other property were destroyed as the gypsies fled to safety. During the assault, the mob tried to stop the gypsies from escaping. The police tried to help the gypsies, but the crowd turned on them.

When a local fire-fighting unit arrived at the site to put out the flames, it, too, was attacked by locals throwing stones.

District Attorney Sergio Coronado emphasized there was no connection between the gypsies and the car-death case. “The line of investigation does not lead to the gypsies. They were ruled out at the very start. The investigation is leading in another direction, and the family of the victim is aware of this,” he said. Local officials said the gypsy community was a victim of “prejudices” on the part of the locals who attacked them.

Francisco Estevez, the director of the Region X Division of Social Organizations, said he hoped to meet with Regional Governor Sergio Galilea in the next few days to discuss the matter. Estevez said the anti-discrimination initiative currently under discussion in a Senate committee will offer victims of discrimination special recourse in law and will provide special sanctions for those convicted of discrimination crimes.

The gypsies did not formally complain to the police after the attack, but did abandon their site.

Gypsy camp spokesperson Juan Carlos Farias said his group will travel to Santiago to meet with the “King of the Gypsies” in order to discuss the matter and consider what legal action they might pursue.

Locals have asked that the gypsies never be allowed back into Puerto Montt. Octavio Alvarado, head of a local neighborhood association, asked for concrete measures to be taken against the gypsies returning. “This place has been converted into a dump, full of waste and rats. The owner of the land should come and take a look,” he said.

Francisco Nicolich, a gypsy who fled the site on Friday said, “Gypsies have never killed anyone. Every time that something happens, gypsies are blamed.”

SOURCES: LA TERCERA, EL LLANQUIHUE
By Cathal Sheerin

Potential gypsy sites cut from 26 to 12

Published Date: 16 March 2009

Anxious members of the public turned out for a meeting on Thursday (March 13) to hear the results of a consultation on gypsy and travellers sites.

The crowd, of around 25 people, listened as the planning committee agreed with Dacorum Borough Council staff to shave 12 areas from the list.

The decision, if agreed by Cabinet, will leave only the following as possible sites: Grovehill West, PolADVERTISEMENTehanger Lane, Featherbed Lane, Fields End Lane and Long Chaulden in Hemel Hempstead, Swing Gate Lane and Sandpit Green in Berkhamsted, Dunsley Farm and Icknield Way in Tring, The Ridings in Markyate, plus Green Lane and the airfield in Bovingdon.

The committee also suggested that avoiding land within the green belt should be made a priority.

Councillor Alan Anderson: "This is a very difficult subject and one that Dacorum has not traditionally had to deal with.

"There are a number of issues to consider but can we request that green belt land is avoided as much as possible?"

But planning senior manager Richard Blackburn told the committee that building on green belt land was viable where there was a need to do so.

He added: "The way people have responded to this consultation suggests they would like to see the sites far away from settled areas.

"By not using any green belt land the sites would be even closer to settled parts of the borough."

More than 1,800 people put their concerns into writing when possible spots for gypsy and traveller sites were announced last year as part of
a wider consultation on housing.

The plans, which would bump pitches in Dacorum up from 36 to 59 by 2031, aim to meet government targets for more homes and traveller sites.

Most letters opposing the proposals cited the loss of green belt land, as well as social issues such as integration.

Around 150 responses were excluded from the report because they were deemed racist under The Race Relations Act 1976.

The issue will be discussed by Cabinet on March 31.

Gypsies face eviction from 'green belt' site

Adam Derbyshire
March 04, 2009

A GYPSY family who have settled on ‘green belt’ in Denton are facing eviction.

Dean Price, 32, and his brother Thomas set up camp at the former builder’s yard in Watson Street and transformed it into a des res for their families.

The brothers, both Romany gypsies, live in caravans with their wives Sheila and Colette and 10 children aged from one to 17.

Far from the stereotypical ‘gypsy camp’, the site is surrounded by a new brick wall, decorated with hanging baskets and topped with black railings. Ornate gates and CCTV guard the entrance and a gravel drive sweeps into camp.

Speaking to the Advertiser last year, Thomas, 40, said: "It was an eyesore when we arrived. The lane was a magnet for drunken youths, joyriders and flytippers. But we’ve tidied it up and there’s no trouble here now."

Dean added: "I want to give our kids something we never had, a settled school life.

"We bought this site for our family alone, no one else will come here."

They applied for retrospective permission to stay in the green belt, but their application was turned down on Wednesday (4 March) .

Solicitors for the family argued that because it was formerly a builder’s yard, green belt rules should not apply.

A government circular was introduced in 2006 because there had been a failure to deliver adequate sites for gypsies and travellers over the past 10 years.

But planning chiefs told councillors to refuse the application, arguing that "harm" done to the green belt outweighs the "special circumstances" of the proposal.

Seven unsigned objections were submitted from residents in Hyde Road, and Denton MP Andrew Gwynne and his wife, Councillor Alison Gwynne, also objected.

Mr Gwynne submitted an aerial photograph showing the site covered by extensive vegetation in 2003, while his wife said a residential planning application was refused in 1997 so granting permission now would set an ‘alarming precedent’.

Mr Gwynne claimd ‘gypsies’ are classed the same as ‘travelling showmen’ for which there are already three sites in Denton.

Councillors vow: "We'll stop Gypsy sites"

Monday, February 23, 2009, 21:12

ANGER at plans to create a new permanent Gypsy camp in Plymouth boiled over last night as Labour councillors vowed: 'It's war'.

The city's Labour group called on residents to fight the council 'in the highest court in the land' over plans to build a Gypsy site at Efford Warren.
And they pledged to stand shoulder to shoulder with residents in Plympton and St Budeaux, where the council is also proposing to put permanent Gypsy and traveller camps.

Furious Labour councillors walked out of an emergency meeting yesterday, claiming that the way it had been called broke council rules.

Andy Kerswell, pictured right, Labour councillor for Efford and Lipson, told The Herald: "It's war. I would go to the extent of saying it's war.

"We are prepared to take this battle to the courts. We are in discussions with residents of Woodford and St Budeaux to have a joint legal approach. Woodford residents have already collected £3,500 towards their legal costs."

Addressing a small crowd of Efford protesters outside the Civic Centre after the meeting, Chris Pattison, Labour councillor for Ham, said: "We are absolutely going to stop the sites at Woodford [Plympton] and St Budeaux."
The city council called yesterday's emergency meeting after the Labour group challenged a decision to begin consultation over the design of the Efford site.

Conservative councillors said a decision was needed urgently because there was a Government deadline of the end of June to bid for funding.
After the Labour group walked out, Conservative councillors voted unanimously to go ahead with consultation.

Outside the Council House, Mr Pattison disputed the need for urgency. He said there were two more funding periods when the council could put in bids: next year and 2011.

"We didn't rush to find a site when we were in power because there was no deadline," he said.

"Anyway, it shouldn't always be about whether this council should get its money from somebody else."

Mr Pattison urged residents not to let it rest, and to "take the campaign forward".

He called for a meeting of all three areas that face having a Gypsy site to "get together and if necessary challenge it in the highest court in the land".
He said: "What is not going to work is foisting a site on any area where there is going to be antagonism from day one."

Mr Kerswell said he would present the results of a survey he carried out to the Government within the next ten days.

Vivien Pengelly, the council leader, said later: "I am relieved we can now press ahead with our plans to bid for more than £1.5 million of Government money to cover the cost of establishing a well run, official Gypsy and Traveller site.

"There is only one ring-fenced pot of money for the South West and if we don't get a share of it then it will go to other councils.

"The Government has the power to force sites on us. If we don't get our bid in, then local taxpayers could end up footing the bill."

Ted Fry, the deputy leader of the council, said: "There is an obligation on every local authority in the country to provide appropriate numbers of sites for Gypsies and Travellers.

"In Plymouth there has been a shortfall that has to be corrected."

Ian Bowyer, Cabinet member for Budget and Finance, said: "The Labour group's action would result in long-winded debates and needless bureaucracy at great expense to the city. Efford councillors had more than 12 months to wake up to these issues but it seems they were slumbering in their beds."

He said that cleaning up after unauthorised encampments cost the city about £160,000 a year.

Some Efford residents sitting in the public gallery during the meeting expressed their anger with the council's decision.

"We have to live with them and we don't want them," Pam Andrews shouted as councillors left the chamber. "They're not coming to Efford."
Around 50 members of 16 families of Showmen live at Efford Fort, next to the planned Gypsy site.

John Lock, a committee member and trustee of the Western section of the Showmen's Guild, said he had a meeting last Spring with council officers about the site.

"They told us about their plans for a Gypsy and Traveller site in Efford," Mr Lock said. He said that a previous Gypsy site in Efford, which closed in 1975, had caused "ill feelings and social unrest".

Paul Chuwen, a resident at Efford Fort and a member of the Showmen's Guild, said: "It came down to violent confrontation."

Mr Chuwen said it was "disgusting" that council officers visited the Gypsies at The Ride, Chelson Meadow, but did not visit members of the Showmen's Guild at Efford Fort.

"Instead of creating a number of small sites, why don't they just put all the Gypsies on one big site."

See Friday's edition of The Herald for Gypsy myth-buster special feature.

Italian police accused of aggression in gypsy camp sweep

By Guy Dinmore in Tor de Cenci, Italy
Published: February 4 2009 14:30 Last updated: February 4 2009 14:30

One moment Giorgio was returning from his morning job driving kids to school and the next, he says, he was forced by police to sit on the ground and sing “happy birthday” while security forces cordoned off and searched the camp where he and some 250 gypsies live on the edge of Rome.

Giorgio’s “punishment” – he said he was told to sit and sing “louder, louder” – was imposed after he had his arm twisted for questioning the police barring his way. An officer came later and admonished his “aggressive” deputy.

The operation at Tor De Cenci (Tower of Rags), a dormitory town just south of Rome, began on Monday and continued the next day as part of a wider sweep of gypsy camps around Rome.

Gypsies said they were told the operation was a “census”. They had their documents checked against a computerised list and their homes – built out of shipping containers – searched. About 10 men and women were taken away in a bus, with all but one later released.

Women complained of verbal abuse and said their children were terrified by the police dogs. They were angry that for about nine hours they were denied permission to leave the camp to buy food.

Police said they found a small amount of narcotics, some bullets and a stolen Porsche.

Similar operations have taken place at several gypsy camps around Rome over the past week.

Unusually, however, this time police are being joined by the army. The gypsies at Tor De Cenci - who all originate from former Yugoslavia - described the soldiers as “dressed like for war in Iraq”.

An army spokesman confirmed that units, possibly including Folgore paratroopers, had been deployed in support of police forces to help patrol and search “illegal” gypsy camps in Rome.

The centre-right government on Wednesday confirmed that the nationwide deployment last summer of 3,000 troops to help police “keep Italy safe” had been extended for another six months.

In Rome, which has 800 soldiers assigned, troops also guard embassies to free up police for other duties. In Naples – where a local politician was reported to have been shot dead on Tuesday by the Mafia - the army has been on patrol against organised crime and illegal immigrants.

Catholic volunteer aid workers say the operation this week at Tor De Cenci is aimed at “separating good from bad” among the gypsies, with the aim of establishing better living conditions for those allowed to remain, possibly in yet to be built “maxi-camps”. Some small illegal settlements have been destroyed.

Rome’s right-wing mayor, Gianni Alemanno, was elected last April on a promise to “expel” many gypsies who are widely blamed for spreading crime. Now he is active in trying to improve conditions at some camps and plans to build new ones. He has a budget of €23m.

It remains unclear exactly what criteria will be used to determine which gypsies can remain. Aid groups estimate that some 50,000 gypsies have arrived in recent years from Romania, adding to the 20,000 or so who had fled former Yugoslavia.

“Our government wants to remove some horrible camps and create new well-equipped settlements and fully integrate Romanian children into the school system, protecting them from all sorts of street crime,” one official said, quoting Roberto Maroni, interior minister.

Last week, Mr Alemanno reached an agreement with ex-Balkan gypsies from Casilino camp, which provided for the reconnection of water and electricity in exchange for cooperation when the time comes to move the camp. He also left open the possibility of allocating proper housing, which is what gypsy representatives ask for.

Municipal police are also drawing up pacts whereby gypsies will be allowed to stay in camps, but under monitoring that would include cameras, fences and regular patrols.

The issue of granting citizenship to children born in Italy still has not been resolved. One aid source said the National Alliance, a right-wing party in the ruling coalition, had wanted to include this in the recently passed security law. But it withdrew the clause before the vote, for fear of being accused of going soft.

Thomas Hammarberg, human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe who last month voiced his dismay at the appalling conditions in gypsy camps he visited, is urging Italian politicians to act carefully and not penalise a whole community because of a “few criminals”.

“They should rather stand up for human rights and respect for those who are different,” he said.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

Gypsy site safety fears for young

Monday, February 02, 2009, 07:00

CHILDREN of gypsy and traveller families face serious health risks if they are to be housed on a former North Lincolnshire tip, protestors fear.

North Lincolnshire Council has proposed building a permanent gypsy and traveller site on land at Caistor Road, Barton-upon-Humber.
But the controversial scheme has met with stiff opposition from local residents, who maintain the site is unsuitable.

About 60 concerned townsfolk attended a consultation meeting at Barton's Assembly Rooms on Friday night.

And the speakers included Cleethorpes MP Shona McIsaac, whose constituency includes Barton.

Mrs McIsaac said: "This site has been a landfill site."

She said, because of its previous use, there could be hazardous materials in the ground and there was potentially a further danger from methane gas seeping through the soil.

"As far as I am aware, nobody has ever done any tests on that land to find out exactly what is in there. Nobody has done any proper chemical analysis," she said.

Bob Moore, one of organisers of the protest group and an industrial chemist, said there was evidence of methane gas permeating through the soil, which would still come to the surface even if the top was removed.

"It's explosive," he declared, adding exposure to the gas could also lead to brain damage.

Neither Coun Mick Grant, North Lincs Council cabinet member for housing and planning, nor any other members of the lead Labour group attended the meeting.

Coun Grant, however, later said: "The council is currently consulting on proposals for gypsy and traveller sites and I would urge people to have their say through the official channels.
"The council will consider all views before making any further decisions."

WHO urges Kosovo to close lead-contaminated camps

AP - Jan 31, 2009

PRISTINA, Kosovo: A World Health Organization official says Kosovo must close down lead-contaminated camps in the tiny Balkan country's industrial north where about 100 Gypsy families live.

WHO regional director Dorit Nitzan says tests have shown levels of lead contamination are "severe" though they are falling.

Nitzan said Saturday the area should be declared hazardous for humans, and its residents should be moved.

The makeshift camps are located near a smelter that is part of the Trepca mining complex in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica.

The Gypsies, also known as Roma, have lived in the camps since their homes were torched just after Kosovo's 1998-99 war with Serb troops. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia last year.

Tensions rise over Italy’s gypsy migrants

By Guy Dinmore and Gabriella Bianchi

Published: January 26 2009 20:29 Last updated: January 26 2009 20:29

A political storm has erupted around Italy’s gypsy community after a series of recent attacks prompted Silvio Berlusconi, the country’s prime minister, to suggest deploying 30,000 troops nationwide to combat crime blamed on gypsies and other immigrants.

Europe’s open borders have led to a flood of Romanian gypsies into Italy, straining municipal services and stirring political tensions. Some church groups estimate 50,000 Romanian gypsies have arrived in recent years, adding to thousands of Balkan gypsies who had fled the former Yugoslavia. Many live in squalid conditions condemned by human rights groups.

Mr Berlusconi suggested the extra deployment of troops in response to the highly publicised cases of two women reportedly gang raped near Rome. Police have not publicly identified their suspects as gypsies.

But Carabinieri police units have searched 47 settlements and other places for the suspected rapists and one “Romanian” was arrested, local media said.

Police also intervened after a neo-fascist group demonstrated in Guidonia near Rome – where the rapes took place – during which thugs attacked Romanian and Albanian immigrants.

The possible troop deployment follows the decision last summer by the prime minister’s tough-on-crime ruling coalition to order 3,000 troops to back up police last summer, mainly in the fight against organised crime and illegal immigration.

Ignazio La Russa, defence minister, said today that Mr Berlusconi’s proposal remained a “hypothesis”, to be discussed further in high-level talks on Thursday.

Gypsy activists are investigating allegations that units of the Folgore parachute brigade were involved in making arrests and breaking up illegal shacks used by gypsies on Rome’s Via Gordiani last week.

An army spokesman said a unit of Sardinian grenadiers had been involved in checking identities of some 70 gypsies in an illegal camp.

Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, made his second inspection tour of camps near Rome this month.

He was visibly shocked at meeting with a Romanian who called herself Marinella, living in a tent with her two children, in the midst of rats and a swamp caused by torrential rain.

“The situation is unacceptable,” he told the Financial Times. “Nothing has changed since my last report in July. In fact living conditions are even worse. So much talk and media attention but nothing happens. This is a display of inept policy.”

Meanwhile, an official poster campaign sponsored by Gianni Alemanno, mayor of Rome, is boasting of “6,216 expulsions in 2008” and taking credit for a “20 per cent fall in crime”.

Formerly a neo-fascist, Mr Alemanno campaigned on a promise to crack down on crime, illegal immigrants and gypsies, capitalising on emotions that were running high after the murder of a woman by a Romanian gypsy near a railway station.

Mario Mori, a retired general who is security adviser to the mayor, sought to distinguish actual policy from the heat of last April’s elections.

Mr Mori said the 6,216 expelled by the prefect of the interior ministry were mostly illegal immigrants from north Africa and only a few had been gypsies.

He noted there was no national legislation on “regulating” gypsies and that policy had been left to individual cities.

Mr Alemanno wants to erase unauthorised camps and build new “maxi-camps” for gypsies who have the “right” to stay in Italy by proving they are EU citizens. Those without papers are liable for expulsion.

Mr Hammarberg said today: “I am concerned about reported plans to use soldiers for evicting Roma (gypsies) from their settlements.

“If evictions are necessary at all they should be conducted humanely and only after a satisfactory alternative for housing is found and offered.”

Nazareno Guarnieri, head of an organisation that represents gypsies, said: “They say we like living in camps. They invented camps. None of us lived in camps before. We want homes.”

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

Britain set for 'hundreds' of new gypsy sites

by JO STEELE - Friday, November 21, 2008

Hundreds of new gipsy camps could be built throughout Britain, it was claimed last night.

Work on some of the proposed 7,500 extra pitches - some which can hold up to three families - could go ahead within weeks, it was reported.

The government is set to announce £97million in grants for councils to provide new campsites and upgraded existing ones for travellers.

In return, the residents would have to pay rent and council tax.

Homeowners fear a 'land grab' if they refuse to sell. However, the department of communities and local government said many of the bids from local authorities would 'improve existing sites rather than create new ones'.

A spokesman added: 'It's important we have enough authorised sites for travellers to stop the vicious cycle of evictions. Councils have a range of powers to deal with any unauthorised developments and any antisocial behaviour resulting from the occupants, and we have provided clear guidance on their use.'

But shadow communities secretary Eric Pickles blamed 'political correctness' for the proposed explosion of new camps.

'Communities across the country are going to face the bombshell of having a traveller camp dumped on their backyard,' he said.

'Councils are powerless to resist these regional targets, and are being bullied into building.'

Norfolk gipsy homes set for refusal

29 October 2008 08:48

Plans for six permanent homes for elderly gypsies at Beetley are being recommended for refusal.

The semi-detached bungalows with garages on land at The Paddocks, School Road, would be for gypsies and travellers who are over 55.

The site already has full planning permission to be used as a gypsy transit site for up to six caravans to accommodate four families, with no family being allowed to stay there for more than 18 months.

But a report to Breckland Council's development control committee states the new application by Miss S Macann does not demonstrate a substantial need for the permanent housing and the Norfolk Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment undertaken in June 2007 found there was no need for the type of accommodation proposed.

It continued: “It is considered that the proposal would result in the loss of pitches for an existing identified need for gypsy and traveller caravan pitches.

“There is a shortage of caravan pitches in the area and the loss of these pitches will exacerbate the situation.”

The application will be discussed by councillors at Breckland's development control committee meeting on Monday.

Preparing for a 'Gypsy Summit'

TIME.com
By Jeff Israely
Monday Sept. 15, 2008

Coming to a stop in his two decade-old Fiat, Bologna social worker Claudio cut the ignition and yanked up the emergency break. "Get ready," he said. It was January 2007, and as part of my reporting for an article on immigration I was about to meet some 15 Roma families who'd emigrated from the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Claudio's warning was partly to prepare me for the rough conditions — rusting doors and walls, leaking pipes, power cuts — that I would encounter over the next hour as the longtime city caseworker showed me around the fenced-in cluster of aluminum trailers.

But it was also designed to brace me for a human situation that is far more complicated than your typical residents' gripes over municipal services or talk-show outrage about minority rights. And different than the other immigration stories I was seeing. Get ready, Claudio seemed to be saying, to be both appalled and surprised.

(MORE)

Italy: Gypsy camp set on fire in Rome

Rome, 23 July (AKI) - Firefighters and police in the Italian capital Rome began investigating an attack on a Rome Gypsy camp in the city early on Wednesday.

The camp was set on fire by unknown assailants late on Tuesday. It is believe that the fire was started by young Italians.

The camp, called the Via Candoni camp, is considered a 'legal' camp and is located in the southwestern part of Rome.

Witnesses said a group of young Italians aboard three cars threw incendiary devices, and the fire quickly spread throughout the camp, reported Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

"We will bring to light what happened. If there is someone responsible for this, they will be severely punished," said Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno, who visited the camp after the attack.

This attack on a Roma Gypsy camp comes a day after Italian authorities carried out the so-called 'census' in the camp to identify who lives there.

Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said last week that he would go ahead with the controversial 'census', which involves fingerprinting Roma Gypsies in Italy.

The procedure is already underway in Naples, Milan and Rome, despite criticism from international rights groups and the European Union.

In May, an Italian mob twice carried out arson attacks against a Gypsy camp outside the southern Italian city of Naples - incidents that drew criticism from rights groups, members of the Catholic church in Italy and the opposition.

The census of Italy's Gypsy population is part of the new Italian conservative government's promise to crackdown on illegal immigration.

Special Roma Gypsy commissioners have been appointed in several of the country's major cities.

Of the approximately 150,000 Roma-Gypsies in the country, 70,000 are Italian citizens, and many others come from European Union countries such as Romania, while others came from the countries that make up the former Yugoslavia.

Gypsies claim racial bigotry

By Joe Ware

GYPSIES who are fighting to keep their community at Minety have been treated with hypocrisy by council bosses, an inquiry heard this week.

The second public inquiry into the unauthorised building work at the site in Sambourne Road, heard by planning inspector Karen Ridge, got under way at North Wiltshire District Council on Tuesday.

Gypsy families were among those attending the inquiry, with Minety residents who have fought the development.

Representing the gypsies, Alan Masters said his clients want the same treatment as Minety residents. He said: "The Minety travellers have been victims of hypocrisy.

"The village of Minety is deemed as an area suitable for development by the council but the nearby appeal site is not.

"The gypsies have settled in the area and their children attend local schools. The council's approach is a failure to follow the Race Relations Act."

Earlier Mrs Ridges called for respect and outlined the main point of the investigation. She said: "This is a planning inquiry not a public meeting. I'm aware the subject is emotive but please do not interrupt or shout out. Please be respectful. This inquiry is here to determine the effect of the development on the local area given the nature of its affects on neighbouring parties."

Saira Kabir Sheikh, representing North Wiltshire District Council, said: "The appeal scheme does not represent a sustainable form of development. The development is significant in size and is unduly intrusive in the countryside.

"The scheme causes significant harm and has a detrimental impact on the character and amenities of the countryside. The scheme is also harmful to adjoining residential property."

Most of the opening morning was taken up with the cross examination of planning expert Simon Chambers, the council's sole witness.

He said: "As stated I believe there has been no physical change in the circumstances since the previous appeal was assessed and there has been substantial progress towards the assessment of gypsy and traveller accommodation needs and potential delivery of sufficient land to accommodate that need.

"There are a number of factors contributing to the unsustainability of the appeal site compared to the village.

"One of the reasons is village residents have better access to transport links whereas the appeal site is isolated making access to public transport much more difficult."

10:56am Thursday 10th July 2008

Row erupts over park gypsy camp

A row has broken out over a decision by Powys council to locate a temporary gypsy camp in the Brecon Beacons National Park.

The park authority has accused the council of a "flagrant disregard of planning policy" and may consider legal action over the site near Brecon.

A permanent camp is planned nearby, but the council wants to locate 12 caravans at a small holding until that is ready. It said it would apply to the park for retrospective planning permission.

The site under dispute is in an area known as Cefn Cantref.

At the moment the family of gypsies live in a lorry and coach park in Brecon, having recently moved from a lay-by in nearby Libanus.

Powys council said it had agreed in principle to create a permanent site for the family at Llanfilo, near Brecon, and a report about the project was expected to go before councillors in September.

In the meantime, the council said the lorry and coach park was not a suitable and it had decided to move the family to Cefn Cantref temporarily.

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