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.

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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.’

On the road to change: dealing with domestic violence in Gypsy and Traveller groups

Fifteen years after the UK's only refuge for Gypsy and Travelling women opened, a new generation is acknowledging the problem of violent relationships.

Jill Clark
The Guardian, Friday 14 August 2009

For Kay, the beatings came three weeks into her marriage. She and her partner, both from Irish Travelling families, met on the road as teenagers before becoming pen pals. It wasn't until they settled down on a caravan site in Yorkshire that he threw his first punch. "He'd just flip out, slapping me, kicking me," says Kay (not her real name). "He wanted me to jump when he said, to sit when I was told." Despite the violence in their relationship, the couple had three children together and Kay says she felt powerless to leave. "I just accepted it as normal. In my culture the woman is the heart of the family, the man is the head – what he says goes."

Kay's story may be similar to that of the 25% of women in the UK who are thought to experience domestic violence during their lifetimes – six to 10% of women suffer it in any given year – but a recent paper by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, suggests that women from the Gypsy and Traveller communities who report domestic violence will often have suffered it more severely and over a considerably longer period than other women. Although there is no conclusive evidence about the prevalence of this abuse, the paper cites a study in Wrexham, which found that between 61 and 81% of married Gypsy and Traveller women had experienced direct abuse from a partner.

Cultural barriers are believed to be one reason that Travelling women stay in violent relationships for longer than other women. Kay, who endured 14 years of violence (twice the UK average) before she had an injunction brought against her husband, feared that she might have to leave behind her whole way of life by entering a bricks-and-mortar refuge or being relocated into a house. "It would have killed me stone dead," she says. "I've lived in trailers all my life; it's all I know. In a house, I'd feel cooped up and boxed in; I'd be so alone. I worried my kids would get stick for being Travellers and we wouldn't feel welcome, that we'd get judged and treated as outsiders and would never be able to admit where we came from."

A reluctance to deal with the police, coupled with a lack of knowledge about mainstream services, may complicate the situation. Kay admits, "For all those years I'd refused to report his abuse. If you're seen talking on your own to police, you can be labelled a grass, and a grass isn't allowed in our community. I'd seen them [police] come to the site uninvited, trashing our property, talking down to the kids. There was no trust there. But in the end it was my brother who said: 'Leave him.'"

Kay also felt that she would be stigmatised for talking about the abuse. "We're taught to stand up for ourselves as strong Travelling women. If word gets out you're being hit – by man, woman or whoever – you can be seen as weak."

Kathleen Lowther Morrison, a Traveller from the community group Leeds Gypsy and Traveller exchange, says many Travellers have traditional views on marriage, with divorce a rarity. And a woman leaving a marriage can be ostracised. "If they've lived in a closed community all their lives and have had little education, if they've barely been to school, they can assume all men are violent and domestic violence is normal. Gypsies see domestic violence going on all their lives: if it isn't happening to their mum, it's happening to their sister or their neighbour."

Although community campaigners admit that discussing violence within marriage has always been a taboo, 15 years after Solas Anois – the UK's only refuge for Gypsy and Travelling women – was set up, it is being tackled head on with new initiatives. This summer saw the first conference on domestic violence in the Traveller and Gypsy communities, with another planned for October.

Lowther Morrison says it is essential that help comes from within the community and that more people attend domestic violence courses. "I went on a training course myself," she says. "It was like a light flashing in my head. I never knew what domestic violence was till then. Half of our women still don't, they think a good hiding is part of our culture."

Bernie O'Rourke, who works at Solas Anois – Gaelic for "comfort now"– says attitudes in the community are changing. "More Travelling women than ever are seeking help. More mothers are willing to assist their daughters in leaving violent relationships. Women feel more empowered; change is coming."

In 2008, 44 women were accommodated at the refuge: a further 21 had to be turned away because of lack of space. O'Rourke says more specialist refuges are essential to acknowledge and accommodate the particular needs of the women from the Gypsy and Traveller communities. "A lot of Travelling women have low literacy and numeracy – a CD or DVD version of the refuge rules and information can help. Some can't tell the time or aren't interested in it; their children may not have structured bedtimes. Their life is very different from that of the settled population." She points out that they can be deterred from entering mainstream refuges if they experience difficulties observing cleanliness rituals, known as the Mochadi laws – one bowl for washing up, another for washing the body, for example. Particular standards of hygiene – such as using bleach to clean dishes – can also cause problems with other refuge residents.

Six months ago, Irish Traveller Bridie Jones started holding cultural awareness workshops in Kent. Now, she says, "The police no longer take dogs into trailers, or search a whole site to locate a single person. It's about building trust so women will come forward, report violence and have confidence in what the police, social services and other agencies have to offer." She also runs three separate domestic violence support groups for Gypsies and Travellers at homes in her area. "I don't want people thinking that every man I know is going around hitting women, because that would be far from the truth. But domestic violence needs talking about more in my community; it needs bringing out from beneath the carpet."

Lowther Morrison agrees, and says Gypsy and Traveller women now want more equality in their relationships. "My husband respects me and what I do, but there's plenty of women without that – where it's OK for a Gypsy man to remarry but not for a woman, where a woman cannot disrespect a man. It's a long road ahead, but people are coming around to the idea more and more." Her project report, One Punch Kills, recommends opening a caravan site in Leeds for families fleeing domestic violence. "We're not going away, this issue needs looking at and it needs more funding."


Romany Gypsy Janie Cadona, of One Voice, a domestic violence advice organisation for Travellers in the east of England, takes women through their options when experiencing violence from a partner. She agrees that culturally familiar alternatives such as "safe" trailers would help. "For those who have been living out in the open on a site all their lives, or if they're continuously nomadic, it can be too big a shock living with new people in a refuge or hostel. They can feel confined and isolated; anxiety and depression can set in. They risk leaving their life behind, so they stay in a violent situation for longer. Often, Travellers turn up at refuges with six kids in tow – there isn't always room to take in the whole family."

The Irish Traveller Movement in Britain is currently developing a women's group. Director Yvonne MacNamara says such groups can challenge sensitive issues and empower more women like Kay. "A lot of Travellers don't like the terminology 'domestic violence', some won't touch the topic. But others are saying, 'Do something,' which is an incredibly brave thing to do for this community. It's about getting information out there, about teaching men, women, children, young and old, that violence isn't the way. The approach needs to be sensible, it needs to be different and now, I believe, is the time to do it."

The 24-hour National Domestic Violence helpline number is 0808 2000 247.

'Why should I live by Gypsies?'

By Helen Grady
Producer, Beyond Westminster

Every year millions of pounds are spent by local councils on evicting Gypsies and travellers from illegal camp sites. The government thinks the answer is to create more authorised sites, but who should decide where they go?

Len Gridley has some problems with his neighbours. The first is that there are 1,000 of them. The second is that they have set up what has become Europe's biggest illegal traveller site next to his back garden.

"All I want is for the council to clear the site," said Mr Gridley as he showed the 8ft fence he has fitted to separate his garden from his neighbours' homes.

"Who wants to live next to a Gypsy and traveller site? My house used to be worth £500,000 and now it's worth £150,000. No one wants to live here. People have sold up at a loss just to get away."

The site is in Cray's Hill, a picturesque village in the Essex countryside, which has become the focus of a planning row that is likely to cost the local council £3m.

Illegal settlement

The site backing onto Mr Gridley's bungalow is known as Dale Farm. It is owned by Gypsies and Irish Travellers, some of whom have been living there since the 1970s.

Grattan Puxon, a spokesman for the Dale Farm Residents, said the site expanded after some families bought an old scrap yard adjoining the original site. "As the families got bigger, they believed it was a quite a reasonable idea to clean up the old scrap yard and move onto it," he explained.

But only half of the Dale Farm site has planning permission and more than 400 people are facing eviction following a ruling by the Law Lords in May.

Basildon District Council, has spent almost £1m on the legal battle to evict the Travellers and set aside another £2m to pay for bailiffs to clear the illegal section of the site.

Council leader Tony Ball said it was worth the cost, adding "It's quite clear - they are living on green belt land without planning permission. UK law says that site has to be restored to green belt. What price upholding the law? The alternative is anarchy."

But families at Dale Farm claim they have nowhere else to go. And, although they are travellers by birth, they say they need a base.

"I don't know how to read or write," said Jean Sheridan, a mother-of-four. "I've been brung up like a proper traveller - travelling from site to site and on the roads constantly, so I never got the chance to go to school and get an education.

"This is somewhere for us to live, plus somewhere for us to get our kids looked after in the lines of doctors and dentists and education and things like that."

"I'd be happy to move if they could find us another site," added a neighbour, who asked not to be named. "But nobody wants us, so where are they going to put us?"

Political dilemma

That is a dilemma politicians have been grappling with for decades. So far, a solution seems elusive. Although most Gypsies and travellers live in authorised sites, it still costs councils in England at least £18m a year to evict people from illegal sites.

The government thinks the best way to cut these costs is to create more authorised sites and is offering councils £32m each year in grants for these sites.

There is some evidence to suggest this approach could work. Kent has 17 council-run sites across the county and has slashed its eviction costs by 80%.

But other local authorities have proved reluctant even to identify Gypsy and traveller sites, never mind creating council-run ones.

In England, each region must agree how many sites each local council will set aside for Gypsies and travellers in a document called the Regional Spatial Strategy.

However, some councils are threatening to take legal action rather than agreeing, even in principle, to provide what they see as "more than their fair share."

Candy Sheridan, a Liberal Democrat councillor in North Norfolk and a member of an Irish Traveller family, said a big part of the problem is that even authorised sites are unpopular with the settled community.

"There is no ideal site," said Ms Sheridan. "I sit on a planning committee and whenever the word Gypsy or traveller comes in, you get hundreds of people coming to public meetings and everybody is goaded up to say no to planning permission.

"Councillors who have signed up to creating new sites have lost their seats. What you have to do is take the responsibility away from local politicians."

At the moment, even though councils must assess the housing needs of Gypsies and travellers and have a strategy for meeting those needs, there is no legal duty to provide sites.

Labour MP Clive Betts, a member of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, thinks that should change.

He told the BBC: "I think a lot of local authorities would welcome a statutory duty to have to do something because at least then they can go to their residents and say, 'we have to do something, let's find the best sites'."

Extra sites

But shadow local government spokesman Bob Neil said such decisions should be made at a local level and that the Conservatives would scrap the Regional Spatial Strategy.

Meanwhile Basildon District Council is advertising for bailiffs to evict the illegal Dale Farm residents and councillors are resisting calls to provide an extra 60 Gypsy and traveller pitches as part of the Regional Spatial Strategy.

Said Coun Ball: "If every authority in the country took an additional seven pitches that would deal with the demand that's out there at the moment.

"We would take seven extra pitches. But it is inequitable that, while Basildon already provides a 100, some are not providing any."

is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday 1 August at 1100 BST. Or listen again via the BBC
Or download the programme

Should Gypsies and travellers be housed on official sites funded by the taxpayer? Who should decide where they go - councils or Central Government? Are you a traveller? Do you live near an authorised site for travellers or an illegal camp? Send us your comments by filling in the form below.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8171273.stm

Published: 2009/08/01 01:26:51 GMT

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.

Police launch drive to recruit more gypsy officers

Gypsies and travellers are being recruited by Kent Police to ensure the force best represents the community it serves.

Officers believe that by giving jobs to people from the minority group they will be able to smooth what is often a rocky relationship between the two sides.

However, some are concerned the ‘tick-box’ targets could lower standards if vacancies are given to gypsies and travellers rather than the best candidates.

Earlier this year a report by the Association of Police Authorities (APA) suggested all forces should seek to recruit from under-represented groups.

Assistant Chief Constable Allyn Thomas said this was something Kent Police fully supported.

He said: “We seek to recruit staff from as wide a background as possible and we welcome applicants from all ethnic backgrounds.

“To support us in this we have a Gipsy and Traveller Action Group, the members of which advise us on issues and who provide support in the recruitment of new personnel and the progression of existing personnel.

“We believe recruiting officers from a variety of ethnic groups enhances the legitimacy of policing in the eyes of those minority communities.”

The initiative has been backed by campaigners for travellers’ equality, including the Canterbury Gipsy Support Group, which provides diversity training to Kent Police.

Vice-chairman Joe Jones said it was important his people were given the same career opportunities as others, but admitted he did not think there would be a mad rush to sign up.

He said: “Gypsies and travellers are far from being policed in the real sense. The only time we meet is when our camps are being raided or when we are being made to move on.

“We are the most misunderstood group of people in the British Isles and nobody really cares about us, but by the police looking to recruit us it shows that we have finally arrived in society.

“Over the years the police have acted as piggy-in-the-middle between us and various other authorities and there are a lot of issues that need to be overcome before gypsies and travellers really start to go for jobs in the force, but it’s obviously something we would like to see more of.”

The recommendation by the APA to recruit more gypsies and travellers has been ridiculed by the TaxPayers’ Alliance and the Campaign Against Political Correctness, both of whom fear standards of policing will go down if candidates are judged more on ethnic background than suitability for the job.

However, Kent Police Federation chairman Ian Pointon pointed out that all potential recruits have to pass the same entry exams to be considered for a job.

He said: “It could bring a better understanding of the ways and customs of travelling communities and help break down barriers between us.

“We’re all aware of notorious traveller sites but there are also ones many people don’t know exist that are peaceful and absolutely spotless, and where I’ve been able to sit down and have a nice cup of tea with the people who live there.

“As long as they meet the grade then I can see no reason why we shouldn’t seek to recruit more gypsies and travellers.”

Travellers hit back

A SUPPORT group for gypsies and travellers has blasted Henley Town Council’s decision not to help supply legal sites.

A spokesman for the National Federation of Romani Gypsy and Traveller Liaison Group said councillors should “come out of the dinosaur age”.

She said: “It is frustrating for us that people still have these antiquated views about gypsies and travelling people.

“We have had laws changed to protect us. People can still speak about gypsies in a very derogatory way. They would never speak like that about other people.

“Romani gypsies are an ethnic group who don’t choose their lifestyle — they have never known any other way. Gypsy people won’t change — by tradition they have an aversion to bricks and mortar.”

The Government Office for the South-East is asking the opinions of councils about providing land for travellers. It hopes that official sites would allow travellers better access to schools and healthcare, ensure that taxes and rent were collected and reduce illegal sites.

Last week, Henley councillors warned that offering parts of the town would lead to more illegal sites in the area and an increase in litter.

Speaking at a meeting of the finance strategy and management committee, Cllr Chris Pye said: “I don’t think we should be obliged to support travellers’ sites. There seem to be more and more travellers and increasing numbers of Eastern Europeans are arriving every year.

“By creating and providing more sites we are actually encouraging travellers to enter the country. Travellers, by their nature, always move on. They won’t want to stay at one legal site. They will come along for a brief time, do some roof repairs and then leave, normally dumping quite a lot of rubbish.”

Cllr Peter Skolar said: “If this scheme gave local authorities the power to remove illegal sites then I may be in favour of it but it doesn’t.

“There are already a lot of legal sites in Oxfordshire — the county council has been awarded a Charter Mark for its work — but we also have an awful lot of illegal sites.”

The Government says gypsies are the most excluded ethnic group in the UK. In June last year, there were 3,169 caravans in the South-East of which 2,466 or 78 per cent were authorised.

A government report on site provision is due next year. Locations for legal sites will then be decided by local authorities as part of their own area plans.

There are six permanent council-owned sites in Oxfordshire, providing 80 pitches, with another seven privately-run areas. The closest to Henley is The Sturt, at Oakley Wood, which has five plots.

What do you think? Write to: Letters, Henley Standard, Caxton House, Station Road, Henley, RG9 1AD or email letters@henleystandard.co.uk

Gypsy artists are coming to town

Published Date: 29 May 2009

TOP gypsy artists are coming to Doncaster to mark the second national Gypsy Roma Traveller History month.

The Baro Ziro Big Time Festival will be running for a week in June as part of the Hothouse arts programme, and will taken place at three venues across the borough - including a traditional circus tent in Chequer Road's Arts Park.

The main marquee line-up will feature entertainment from world music chart-toppers, KAL, Czech Eurovision entry Gypsy CZ and the rarely seen traveller music legend Ambrose Coop and Family.

There will be tales of life on the road with the UK's leading traveller storyteller, Richard O'Neill, an evening of performance, tunes and stories directed by the internationally acclaimed theatre director Alan Lyddiard, and a special screening of Shane Meadows' iconic film King of the Gypsies.
The gallery at The Point, on South Parade, will play host to the creation of an installation by renowned British traveller artists Delaine and Damian Le Bas, and British Traveller photographer Patricia Knight will bring her exhibition to Cusworth Hall.

Baro Ziro runs from Saturday June 13 to Saturday June 20. Tickets are available from the Doncaster Civic Theatre box office on 01302 342349

Should India Speak Up for the European Romani?

April 20, 2009
Vinod Joseph

I heard of the Romani for the first time over a dozen years ago when I was still in college. Term was about to get over and we were all preparing to go home. A friend of mine was packing his bags to leave for Prague where his father, a diplomat, was posted. While we would catch a train or bus to get to our destinations, this chap would fly to Prague. Naturally we were all very jealous and it came as a surprise when my friend told me that Prague is not the nicest places on earth, for an Indian that is.

‘Why is that?’ I asked him.

‘Because Indians tend to get mistaken for Gypsies.’

‘Gypsies?’

‘That’s right. There are Gypsies in Prague who look like us.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah! And the Czechs don’t like the Gypsies.’

Apparently my friend was advised carry a book and wear glasses to show that he was educated and not a gypsy.

I didn’t give that conversation further thought till I came to the UK. Gypsies or Travellers are news items in the UK and they routinely hit the front pages, usually for the wrong reasons.

(MORE)

Council's hunt for gypsy pitches

25 March 2009

LANDOWNERS are being asked if they have any room for gypsy caravans.

North Somerset Council must find 36 long stay and 10 short stay grounds by 2011 and wants people to contact them if they have a potential site.

There are 42 residential pitches in six locations across the district, but the council says it will only be able to eject travellers from illegal sites if it has the extra capacity.

The unitary authority's planning chief Elfan Ap Rees said: "We have to provide these sites over the next two years - we have no choice.

"We are inviting land owners to suggest sites but only those that meet our strict criteria are likely to be considered and even those will be subject to planning approval and public consultation.

"However if there is a sensible site available we would welcome an early planning application which meets our local plan policy.

"Frivolous planning applications for traveller sites are likely be disregarded as unsuitable."

No sites have yet been proposed, but the council will have to take into account any green belt, Mendip Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, conservation sites and proximity of services.

Travellers using the sites would have to pay rent.

Anyone with a potential site is asked to telephone the council's planning policy team on 01934 426177 or e-mail planning.policy@n-somerset.gov.uk

Chaos warning over gypsy sites

chris.havergal@cambridge-news.co.uk

SNAIL-PACED bureaucracy could plunge gypsy and traveller policy in South Cambridgeshire into chaos, furious planners fear.

Hold-ups in producing a flagship strategy to identify new pitches in the district have sparked concerns travellers might have to be accommodated in the already overstretched affordable housing stock - and that sites with temporary permission will end up getting permanent consent.

Numerous sites in the area could be affected, particularly in Willingham, Cottenham, Histon and Impington.

Work on the strategy - known as the gypsy and traveller development plan document - got under way in 2006 but it is now not expected to be completed until 2011.

Consultants were employed to develop the project but were fired after less than two years because their work was not up to scratch.

It is now being produced in-house at South Cambridgeshire District Council, but members are angry about the delay.

At a meeting of the planning committee, councillors said traveller sites given temporary consent on the understanding the strategy would be ready when their permission came up for renewal might have to be given permanent approval.

And the meeting heard new developments in the Cambridge area such as Trumpington Meadows had no pitches allocated to them, when the strategy might have changed this.

It was suggested traveller families could be homed in affordable housing - but the council already has 4,000 families on its waiting list.

Cllr Sebastian Kindersley, the leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, said waiting five years for the strategy was "simply unacceptable".

He said: "We are missing opportunities because of this. There has been no mention of it in all our growth areas where we were expecting allocations for the gypsy and traveller community."

Cllr Kindersley said developers would have to accept the need to accommodate traveller sites in their developments.

Cllr Pippa Corney said temporary permissions were already coming up for renewal in her Willingham ward.

She said: "We have got temporary consents coming up next year and the year after and I am concerned about what we are going to do with them."

Cllr Nick Wright, the council's planning chief, told members he did not think other authorities were faring any better in producing the strategy.

Cllr David Bard, its new communities boss, added: "There are reasons why this seems to take an inordinate length of time but I can assure you it is high on our agenda and we are pushing it forward as fast as we can."

Gypsy and traveller site plan in Winterbourne is refused

9:20am Monday 23rd March 2009

By Liza-Jane Gillespie

PLANNING bosses have refused an application for a gypsy and traveller site in Winterbourne.

An application had been made for the stationing of one mobile home and one touring caravan on land at Giddyend, off High Lane.

However, having deferred the decision from a meeting in January so as to allow a site visit, members of South Gloucestershire Council’s development control committee refused the application at a meeting last week.

Planning officer Helen O’Connor said: "It would be departure from normal green belt policy. This application is inappropriate development in the green belt and the onus is on the applicant to demonstrate the special circumstances that would outweigh the harm on the green belt."

The application is believed to have been made because of overcrowding at a neighbouring gypsy site owned by the same family.

The planning committee was also told that despite a shortage of gypsy and traveller sites in South Gloucestershire this site was not put forward as part of the recent Gypsy and Traveller Development Plan Document.

The planning committee refused the application because of highways concerns, which included increased traffic along Swan Lane, the unsuitable junction from High Lane onto Swan Lane and the detrimental effect it would have on safety of pedestrians and horse riders.

The committee also said the application was an inappropriate development and harmful to the green belt and that the applicant had failed to demonstrate special circumstances.

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.

Bowd land IS gypsy home target

16 March 2009

LAND at the Bowd on "The gateway to Sidmouth" HAS been targeted to home travellers and gypsies- and its owner has "expressed a positive interest" in the prospect.

The Government has ordered East Devon District Council (EDDC) to find an additional nine pitches by 2011 and the Herald reported last month how land off the A3052 is one of four sites in the region that was earmarked to fulfil the quota.

EDDC planners discussed the matter in private this week and a spokesman said:

"Land owners of identified sites were contacted to seek their views on the potential use of their land. One land owner, in respect of land at the Bowd in Sidmouth, expressed a positive interest in making his site available for future use by gypsies and/or travellers."

Development control committee members agreed on Tuesday that the council "should" now embark a full public consultation exercise on this specific site.

Members also agreed to:

- invite the public, land owners and any other interested parties to suggest potential sites, and:

- continue discussions with land-owners of potential sites; and:

- hold further discussions with the County Gypsy Liaison Officer and gypsies and - travellers themselves on gypsy and traveller needs and sites; the joint think tank meeting again to consider any additional sites that might be suitable.

Hundreds expected for gypsy king funeral

Published Date: 17 March 2009

Many hundreds of relatives and friends were today attending one of Wigan's biggest gypsy funerals.

'King of the travellers' John Doran, 69, who latterly lived in a distinctive cottage off Scot Lane, lost a brave battle against liver and stomach cancer.

The father of six surviving children, as well as eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, was also a popular member of the settled community with his own chair at his local, the Bowling Green at Newtown.

Many will be swelling the ranks for the Requiem Mass at St Edward's RC Church at noon today.

An exporter who made a living salvaging lorry engines and transmissions for sale abroad, Mr Doran ordered the funeral be a celebration of his great love of life and family.

As a result, there will be no traditional black on show.

He will be taken to church in a white carriage pulled by seven magnificent white horses, while the mourners, including his widow Violet, will be carried in seven silver-coloured limousines.

Originally from Roscommon in the Irish Republic, Mr Doran was the son of legendary 'Champion Piper of Ireland' Felix Doran. And some of his music is due to be played by brother-in-law John Rooney during the proceedings.

Mr Doran was also a much respected greyhound man, whose dogs won races organised by travellers all over the country.

There are potentially so many mourners coming from Ireland and Scotland for the funeral that residents have been asked by police to park their cars as close to the kerb as possible along the route in an attempt to keep it as clear as possible.

He will be buried in St Helens Cemetery, near to his late baby daughter's grave.

The full article contains 292 words and appears in Wigan Evening Post newspaper.

Traveller women give modern touches to Carmen

Reworked version of Bizet's opera of unrequited love and jealousy gets one-off performance at Royal Albert Hall

Ahmad Ali guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 March 2009 11.41 GMT

A modern version of Carmen written by Traveller women will be staged at the Royal Albert Hall today.

The one-off production will be performed in the Elgar Room by a cast of leading TV and stage actors. It is a collaboration between the Traveller Women's Group, based in Ealing, west London, and students from the Purcell School of Music in Hertfordshire.

Why Didn't I Tell You How Much I Loved You?, like the original that inspired it, is the story of an ill-fated Gypsy woman who falls in love with the wrong man. In the new version, however, Carmen has been replaced by Chantelle, an English Gypsy who falls in love with an Irish Traveller called Paddy.

"When we first heard about the offer we thought they were having a laugh," said Margaret, 40, one of the 16 writers involved in the project. She said she and the others were "delighted" to take part.

The women worked with playwright Darren Rapier and poet Ian McMillan in a series of workshops to realise their own interpretation, using Bizet's narrative as a starting point. They drew upon experiences of racism, and wrote about health issues affecting their communities, such as heavy smoking and difficulty accessing healthcare.

The tale focuses on internal differences within the Traveller population and undermines the misconception that Travellers are a homogenous group. According to Margaret: "Everyone thinks Irish and English Travellers are the same but there are differences in what girls are allowed to do." She added: "We are devout Catholics. Faith is central to our culture."

The story is set in London but much of the action takes place at the annual Appleby horse fair in Cumbria - one of the largest of its kind and an important cultural event in the Traveller calender. "The original happens in a tobacco factory," said Samantha, another of the writers. "We thought: 'Where would it take place for a Traveller?' We decided on Appleby as Irish dancing, horse dealing and everything in our culture are on display there," she added.

The project is a part of the Royal Albert Hall's training and participation programme, and follows on from the success of last year's Tosca project, in which ex-offenders from Enfield in north London rewrote the opera, setting it on a housing estate.

Alastair Tallon, head of learning and participation, said a key objective is to create interaction between groups that would not normally be in contact - in this case, Travellers and music students. Tallon, whose job is to diversify visitors to the Royal Albert Hall, said all the women involved in the project would come to see the production. He added: "Enjoying opera is not just about musical appreciation. It appeals to the human condition. We wanted to know how people relate to its themes."

Plymouth warned not to rush Gypsy site plan

Sunday, March 01, 2009, 20:08

PLYMOUTH City Council should not rush into building permanent Gypsy and Traveller sites in Plymouth, MP Gary Streeter told a packed meeting in Plympton.

The council is obliged by the Government to provide pitches for an extra 55 caravans and is considering land at Coypool, on the edge of Plympton, as well as sites at Coombe Farm, St Budeaux, and Efford Warren.

Mr Streeter, the Conservative MP for South West Devon, told a crowd of hundreds at Hele's School on Friday night: "My approach will be to encourage the council to play it long, because it is likely that this policy will disappear after the next General Election. I hope the next Government will not insist on this because feelings are running high in Westminster."
The meeting was told that the land at Coypool was owned by the Adams family trust and Cundy Farms, and that there had been no negotiations over buying it.

Patrick Nicholson, one of the three Conservative councillors for Plympton St Mary who called the meeting, said compulsory purchase was possible but the council could "get bogged down for years" in any attempt.

David Rowland, a travelling showman with Rowlands Fun Fairs, said: "I believe that the three sites they have picked are not suitable at all."
He said a site needed to be close to education and public transport.

Lesley Jones, a Woodford Infants School teacher, wanted to know where the children of Travelling families who stayed at Coypool would be educated.

"We are full and we have a waiting list," she said.

Sandra George of Lynwood Avenue in Woodford, near the proposed Coypool site, said the land did not fit the Government's criteria because some of it was greenfield land, it was steeply sloping, and it was too close to homes to allow adequate screening. She said more of the site was woodland. "Are they going to chop that down?"

David James, a Conservative councillor for Plympton St Mary, said there had been no consideration of putting sites at Sherford new town and at the new developments in the north of the city. His fellow Plympton councillor Samantha Leaves said that by putting Gypsy sites on new developments, people buying houses there would know what they were getting.

Mr Nicholson called on all residents to participate in the consultation process the council is about to launch.

"We need to use the process to our advantage and maximise Plympton's voice," Mr Nicholson said.

"This is a consultation exercise. No decision has been taken."

Gypsy camps: the facts and fiction

Friday, February 27, 2009, 06:45

KEITH ROSSITER talks to council experts Pete Aley, Bronwyn Prosser and Dave Taylor along with Cabinet member Peter Brookshaw to get their perspective on Travellers and the city’s plan for Gypsy camps.

Why should we pay for a Gypsy and Traveller camp? These people do not pay taxes and expect us to pick up the tab for cleaning up after them.

Like everyone else, Gypsies and Travellers have to pay council tax, rent and other bills. They also pay income tax on earnings. This includes those who stop on authorised local authority transit sites.

Why do we need several camps? Couldn't you just put them all in the same place – preferably out of Plymouth?

There is a legal requirement for each area to provide a certain number of pitches. We can't offload ours on the South Hams, for example. Too many people on one site can lead to tensions on the site and with the neighbours.
Who are the groups who come here?

We don't get many New Age Travellers. They tend to find a spot, usually in the countryside, and stay there. Plymouth gets mostly Irish Travellers and Romany Gypsies. We also have showpeople, who have lived at Efford Fort for many years.

What is the difference between the different groups?

A range with distinct backgrounds, cultures and traditions are recognised under race relations legislation. They include Roma, Romany Gypsies, Irish Travellers, and travelling show people, including circus folk.

Some people say that the genuine Roma are all right; it's some of the other groups that cause problems.

They've all got their own cultures and traditions, but it's too simplistic to say one group is better than another. In any community there are those who cause problems.

Is there any evidence of rising crime connected with Gypsies and Travellers?

There is no evidence for this locally. This is backed up by national research by the Joseph Rowntree Study which looked into three new sites in Scotland where the police reported no noticeable increase in crime nearby.
Perception and fear of crime are totally different from the reality.

Is there any evidence about the impact on house prices of having a permanent site near by?

We do not have any evidence of this. The Joseph Rowntree Study found that evidence on this was inconclusive.

How much will it cost to build these sites?

About £80,000 to £100,000 a pitch. Plymouth needs to provide an extra 40 residential and 15 transit pitches.

That's a lot of money. What will you get for it?

People have an image in their minds from seeing the unauthorised encampments, and they transfer that to the proper sites. We believe the new sites will change people's views. They will be as modern as a modern holiday camp. There will be hardstandings for caravans and cars, and an amenity block. The block will have a kitchen and small eating area, toilets and bathroom. There may also be a storage area for working equipment. The permanent sites may also have a playground and a grazing area for animals, plus a site office.

What will the Gypsies and Travellers get out of it?

They will have adequate accommodation and be able to avoid setting up unauthorised encampments. We will also be able to give them access to other services such as health and education.

What size are the groups who come to Plymouth?

Most encampments are four to five caravans, and usually they have children with them.

How will the travelling people use our sites?

A family might have a permanent site as a base, then go travelling for a few months of the year. Those with small children will tend to stay put for longer.

The Government is forcing this on us and the Tories are refusing to fight it, or at least trying to hold out until the next General Election. Would it be possible to delay?

Delay will only store up problems and risks. This is not just about Government requirements – it's about long term-solutions. We have significant numbers of unauthorised encampments. We need to think about everyone – local residents, Gypsies and Travellers and those who put up with unauthorised encampments. Whatever political party is in control, the housing need will not go away and nor will the issue of unauthorised encampments. Delay also means we could lose the opportunity to bid for government funding – and have sites imposed on us.

What will happen if Plymouth defies the Government and refuses to build these camps?

The Secretary of State has the power to order us to do it. If we don't, the courts can make unauthorised encampments permanent. This happened last year in West Yorkshire.

Efford people say that the old Gypsy site there was abused and wrecked. Will it be different this time?

We are keen to involve local residents and Gypsies and Travellers in the design of the Efford site so we can minimise the risks. Experience from other areas show that well-managed sites are not problematic and different to the sort of unauthorised encampments that have caused so many problems in Plymouth. See www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/ findings/housing/H201.asp for more information.

I've heard that the Government is offering money right through to 2011 to build sites. Why are we rushing into it?

The money is announced year on year, with a separate pot each year. It is extremely likely that demand will grow and if we don't get a bid in now, we are likely to get less money.

The existing permanent site at The Ride has been in a shocking state, with uncontrolled dogs barking at passers-by. How will a new site be different?
The interior of the site and accommodation is well maintained and clean. This is not readily visible to passers-by. We recognise that there have been some issues about the area around the site. This is partly due to the design and the nearness to the old rubbish tip. Noise nuisance can be a problem for all communities and there are formal channels for reporting and dealing with it.

Some people say you haven't done enough consultation over using land at Efford Warren and that the site is contaminated.

The Efford plans have been in the public domain for more than a year. According to our survey the land is not contaminated. However, we'll do more investigation before we put in a bid.

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.

Gypsy and Traveller sites to double

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 By Clara Story

North west England will have to more than double the number of sites it provides for Gypsies and Travellers under a new draft policy for the region.


The forum for local authority leaders from the region, 4NW, has begun consulting on the plan, which would compel north west councils to find another 1,250 permanent and 270 temporary pitches by 2016, on top of the 950 sites that existed in 2007.

The new draft policy, part of 4NW’s partial review of regional strategy the North West Plan, is open for wide consultation until 18 March and the final version will be submitted to central government in July.

Michael Gallagher, 4NW’s director of planning, transport and housing, said there was ‘widespread support’ for a more strategic distribution of sites – placing them according to need rather than a simple formula for each council.

He added there was an ‘urgent need’ for more suitable accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers to provide better quality of life and access to services from legal pitches.

He said: ‘It is very important to address the issue. It is part of the homelessness agenda, and why should one section of the community not have somewhere to live?’

City chief defends his stance on gypsy debate

Thursday, February 12, 2009, 07:00

COUNCIL officers will not attend public meetings called to debate Gypsy and Traveller campsites because of the need to avoid "adversarial settings", councillors have been told.

In a letter sent on the eve of today's controversial council meeting about Gypsy and Traveller campsites, chief executive Barry Keel defends himself against allegations made last week that he is trying to stifle debate.

The council's Cabinet has approved work to prepare a bid for Government money for a Gypsy and Traveller site at Efford Warren after consultation last year on whether the site was suitable.

Cabinet members also agreed to start consultation on using land at Coypool and at Coombe Farm, St Budeaux for Gypsy sites.

Both decisions have been challenged and were to be scrutinised at a special meeting in the council chamber at 1.30pm today.

Keel wrote to councillors this week saying: "I wrote to all councillors on February 5 to advise them of the need to carry out consultation on ... proposals for the allocation of Gypsy and Traveller sites....

"There has been some concern expressed that my letter implies that we are stifling comment on this very important matter. This could not be further from the truth. The city council has set, and been recognised for, its very high standards around community engagement on planning matters. The consultation programme has been designed to avoid adversarial settings which mitigate against balanced communication of the issues....

"It is in this context, and in accordance with national advice and best practice, that I have advised that officers do not propose to attend public meetings or area committees as part of the consultation programme."
Plympton councillors and Gary Streeter, the Conservative MP for South West Devon, are planning to hold a public meeting later this month.

Mr Keel first wrote to councillors last week telling them that they could not call special area committee meetings to discuss Gypsy sites, and that council officers would not be sent to any meetings called to debate the subject.

Tory councillor Peter Brookshaw, the city's Cabinet member for Communities, Housing and Supporting People, said that in recent years about 20 unauthorised camps a year have cost Plymouth an average of £6,500 each to deal with.

He said Plymouth had a statutory duty to provide pitches for Gypsies and Travellers.

Labour group leader Tudor Evans said the council has used out-of-date maps when proposing to use land at Coypool for a camp. A housing estate built to the south of the proposed site within the past two years is not shown on the maps used by the council.

Meanwhile, Mr Keel's letter spells out a programme of consultation that will be followed if councillors do not give the process the thumbs down at today's meeting. This will include:

Staffed exhibitions close to the proposed sites at:
Coypool park and ride.
Sainsbury's Marsh Mills.
Tamarside School conference room.
Kitto Centre, Honicknowle.
Novotel, Marsh Mills.

An additional exhibition at Efford Library consulting on site design. There will be four members of staff at each of these events.

Local libraries will have copies of the consultation document and feedback forms which can also be picked up from the Civic Centre. Interested persons can also ask to speak to an officer if they come into the Civic Centre.

A specific event to discuss the sites will be held with the Gypsy and Traveller community.

Children to learn traveller songs in 'gypsy' village

Traveller songs will be taught to children in a village which is home to one of Britain's biggest gypsy camps.

Last Updated: 1:05AM GMT 12 Feb 2009

Youngsters in Cottenham, Cambs., will be taught Romany music by professional folk singers during a month of workshops - before performing in a concert in November.

The workshops are being funded by a £8,000 National Lottery 'Awards for All' grant, applied for by Cottenham's Fen Edge Community Association.

Cottenham became synonymous with conflict between travellers and villagers after the nearby Smithy Fen site mushroomed into one of the biggest camps in Britain in 2004.

Local residents have branded the idea for the concert insensitive, and said the money would be better spent elsewhere.

Jacqueline Smith, 49, a member of the settled community at Smithy Fen, who has campaigned against illegal traveller sites, said: "I find it strange there is going to be a concert in the village college when there are hardly any traveller students there at all.

"I am sure there are a lot of people around the village who would have appreciated that money for better causes.

"There are many more deserving people who could use £8,000."

Grandmother-of-four Joy Impey, who works in the village greengrocer's, said: "It is a bit insensitive considering everything that has gone on here.

"But I suppose they have to integrate and if you do not start with the children, where else would you start."

Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive at the TaxPayers' Alliance said the concert was a waste of resources at a time when schools and communities should be prudent with their spending.

He said: "This money would be better spent on teachers and text books.

"At a time when parents are feeling the pinch in credit crunch and the job market is ever more competitive, schools should be focusing on giving children the best possible formal education, not frittering away this funding on unnecessary extras."

Secondary school pupils from Cottenham Village College, and younger children from Cottenham, Waterbeach and Willingham Primary Schools will be taught for four half days each by two musicians from the East Anglian Music Trust.

The songs, which have not yet been selected, will contain heavy influence from Irish and Romany travelling communities who have both settled extensively across the Fens.

Amy Wornald, arts development manager for Fen Edge Community Association, said the folk songs were first brought to the area in 1915 by travellers seeking work in the fields.

She said: "The traveller community has been based in Cottenham for generations when they moved here to work.

"We are really keen to revive the songs that arrived here with travellers so they can be shared by the whole community.

"There has been a lot of tension over the years between the settled and travelling communities and I think it's really important that people share their heritage."

A spokesman for the National Lottery Awards for All fund said the Fen Edge Community Association has been awarded a grant of £8,010.

He said: "Groups can apply for grants between £300 and £10,000.

"If they meet the criteria and it is a good positive project they stand a very good chance of getting funding."

Upgrade for Gypsy travellers site

BBC News

A site for Gypsies and other travellers visiting Stirling is to be upgraded with security doors and improved CCTV, Stirling Council has said.

About 19 chalets will be upgraded at the site in the western outskirts of the city at Bridgend.

Cladding will also be added to the chalets to improve heat and fuel efficiency.

The work will be done after the council received £93,000 from the Scottish Government.

The site, which also contains a meeting room, can accommodate up to 18 families at any one time.

Councillor Alasdair MacPherson said: "These site improvements will go some way towards improving the health, wellbeing and security of who choose to live in Stirling.

"Gypsy travellers remain marginalised and misunderstood, and prejudice against them is rife.

"As with most racism and bigotry, it can be reflected in official attitudes that continue to this day.

"The government grant will help us to address these issues and improve the services that we provide at Bridgend."

Lack of Gypsy sites fuels homelessness

Published by traceybignall for Race Equality Foundation in Housing , Local Government , Health
Thursday 5th February 2009 - 10:21am

A quarter of Britain’s estimated 300,000 Gypsies and Travellers have nowhere legal to park and are forced to live on unauthorised sites, or choose between camping by the roadside or moving into flats and houses. These unauthrised sites and roadside encampments often result in friction between local people and travelling communities. A newly published paper on Gypsy and Traveller accommodation notes that increasing resources are being diverted to policing and eviction, with two thirds of roadside travellers who’ve been surveyed saying they’ve been evicted at least thirty times in the past five years.

Ronny Flynn, Director of Health and Housing at the Race Equality Foundation says:

“Despite the fuss and alarmism from some quarters, we are only talking about homes for 5,000 families. This constitutes only one square mile of land.”

The paper says research has found that Gypsies and Travellers live in or pass through nine out of ten local authorities in England and Wales.

The report’s author, Dr Margaret Greenfields of Buckinghamshire New University, says:

“More legal sites would help break the cycle of tension between the settled and travelling communities and result in reduced enforcement costs as the number of unauthorised encampments decreases.”

The Gypsies, Travellers and Accommodation Better Housing briefing paper by Dr Margaret Greenfields, was launched at an event hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Traveller Law Reform in association with the Traveller Law Reform Project, and Irish Traveller Movement in Britain on Thursday 29 January 2009. The paper is produced by the Race Equality Foundation and is available by visiting the Foundation's website www.raceequalityfoundation.org.uk or by contacting Tracey Bignall on tracey@racefound.org.uk.

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."

Obligation to educate Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children

What is a school's legal position when it comes to the education of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children, and how do teachers protect their education? Michael Segal discusses

QUESTION:

How should their educational needs be balanced against those of the community at large?

ANSWER:

The case of Hughes v The First Secretary of State and South Bedfordshire District Council [2007] ELR 1, CA looked at this question.

Mr Hughes was head of one of four Traveller families who bought a site for their caravans. The site, in the green belt, was subject to stringent planning restrictions.

Mr Hughes applied for planning permission to use the site as a Traveller site. The planning authority, South Bedfordshire District Council, refused. Mr Hughes appealed, and there was a public inquiry.

To justify a development on land within the green belt, Mr Hughes had to show ‘very special circumstances’ outweighed? ordinary planning considerations and any harm the development would cause.

The education argument
Mr Hughes relied heavily on the fact that six children of the Traveller children attended local schools. He argued that their education would suffer if they left the site, particularly if that meant a return to roadside camping and an itinerant way of life.

The inspector found that the proposed development would harm the green belt by reducing the openness of the landscape, leading to the encroachment of urban features, and adversely affecting the character and appearance of the locality.

But he accepted that there were no alternative sites for the families and that, if planning permission were not given, the children’s education would be severely hampered.

He concluded that there were ‘very special circumstances’, and recommended planning permission.

Appeal
The Secretary of State appealed against that recommendation. He conceded that the children’s education might be disrupted if they were required to leave the site — particularly serious for Traveller children, who have a history of fragmented education.

But, having regard to the local authority’s obligation to make educational provision for children in its area, he was satisfied that they would have appropriate education even without planning permission and an immediately available alternative site.

The educational needs of these children were not out of the ordinary. None had SEN; all were making progress. The harm to their education if they left the site was not a ‘very special circumstance’ sufficient to overcome the harm caused by the development.

High Court
Mr Hughes went to the High Court. The judge allowed the appeal. He held that the Secretary of State had been wrong in finding, without further evidence, that the harm to the children’s education, if they left the site, was not a ‘very special circumstance’ of sufficient weight to overcome the harm caused by the development.

Court of Appeal
The Secretary of State went to the Court of Appeal, which restored his decision, holding that the High Court had been wrong in saying that he should have called further evidence.

The Secretary of State had found that the children’s education would suffer if they were required to leave the site. No further evidence was necessary. He had simply concluded that this harm had not sufficient weight to overcome the harm caused by the development.

Local authority obligation
The Court of Appeal said Mr Hughes’ argument (that a severely disrupted education could not be an appropriate education) would be correct if the local authority’s duty were to ensure that all children within its area received education appropriate to their needs — but this was not the case.

The local authority’s obligation (Education Act 1996, s.13) was not to ensure that all children within its area received an education appropriate to their needs and, but simply ‘to secure that efficient and properly equipped schools of sufficient number and type were available to meet the needs of the population in its area’.

Whether and by what means parents and children used such schools was another matter. The planning judgment rested with the Secretary of State, who had to strike a balance between the community’s interests and those of the children.

The Secretary of State decided in favour of the community, despite the disruption to the children’s education. It was not an easy decision, but it was one that he was entitled to make.

Michael Segal is a district judge in the family division of the High Court

We regret we can not enter into individual correspondence. While it is hoped the answers given here are helpful, they should not be relied on without seeking proper advice as to their application to your own circumstances.

Bollard to block gypsies to be built in Mayfield

Saturday, January 24, 2009, 08:00

A LOCKABLE bollard is to be placed along a stretch of road to discourage gypsies and travellers from setting up camp there.

The moveable obstruction is to be constructed halfway down the disused section of Tunbridge Wells Road in Mayfield, referred to locally as the disused spur.

The road became home to a family of travellers in November 2007, causing great concern among residents and resulting in a court ordered eviction.
This new measure, to be introduced in February, is a response to concerns from residents that such an event could happen again.

Peter Deller is a parish councillor who lives on the spur.

He said: "There have been a lot of discussions about how to prevent it happening again. I think the truth is that there is no perfect solution."
The bollards are to be built as part of an experimental order likely to last a year.

Kathryn Langley, a spokesman for the county council , said: "We've been asked to introduce these measures because of some problems we had in this section of Tunbridge Wells Road.

"Vehicles are banned, and this is being enforced by lockable bollards. Emergency services and landowners who need access are being given keys."
She confirmed that should the bollards be successful and meet with residents' approval they would be made permanent.

The travellers were eventually evicted from the disused spur in February 2008 and since then Cllr Deller has worked with East Sussex County Council to prevent a similar situation arising.

One of his major concerns is the lack of official sites available for travellers.
"The police's job in moving these people on is made considerably easier if they are in a position to say to the offender you should go to this specific place. In 2007 there was no place to send them to and that is still the case now," he said.

Cllr Deller praised the support of East Sussex's Mayfield representative Cllr Bob Tidy in getting the bollard but questioned the council's efforts to provide more gypsy accommodation.

In response, Cllr Tidy pointed to redevelopment taking place at a travellers' site in Maresfield and gave assurances East Sussex was continuing to search for suitable locations.

He said: "We have two sites that we can move travellers to. The finding of new sites is principally a district and borough council responsibility but we help and we have just received funding for five pitches on existing traveller sites in Hailsham and Maresfield."

Gypsies reprieved

Published Date: 22 January 2009

A GYPSY family has won a three-year reprieve to stay on land it owns in a Northumberland village, after a planning battle with local residents and council chiefs.

Alnwick District Council agreed on Tuesday to allow Kathleen and Terrance Lowther to remain temporarily on the site at Heatherleazes, on the outskirts of Warkworth.

The couple moved there in 2007, when their former site at Carlisle closed down.

But their problems were further compounded because their daughter Lisa Anne, who was 23 at the time, was undergoing intensive therapy for cancer at Newcastle, and they needed to be closer to her.

They initially sited three caravans on the land, which has been in Mrs Lowther's family, the Ornsbys, for more than 100 years and was formerly owned by her uncle who lived locally.

But the family faced furious objections from neighbours and plans to change formally the use of the site were refused in June 2007.

They were served a notice to quit in December, but both the planning decision and the notice to quit were overturned on appeal in August last year.

Speaking after this week's decision, Mrs Lowther — whose grandparents are buried in Warkworth — said: "It has been very hard, and we're relieved we can stay.

"We don't bother anyone, we just want to get on with our own lives in peace."

Mr Lowther, who is disabled, added: "You would think people would be more understanding in this day and age. Life is terrible when you even have just one or two people who don't like travellers."

Lisa Anne, whose cancer is now in remission, said: "All we're asking is for people to respect us and our way of life."

Under the conditions of the approval, the Lowthers are permitted two caravans on the site, which are to be moved away from houses, with parking for one van.

Warkworth's district and county councillor, Jeff Watson, said: "Local residents are as adamant as ever that this site should not have been allowed, but have accepted that it is only a temporary permission.

"They look forward to the end of the three-year permission and the site reverting back to open countryside."

Travellers Lose Eviction Court Case

12:46pm UK, Thursday January 22, 2009

Mark Stone, Sky News reporter

The Court of Appeal has ruled that 1,000 travellers living in Dale Farm in Essex can be moved on by Basildon Council.

Up to 50 families now face being forcibly removed from their homes from what is the largest traveller community in the UK, including more than 150 children.

Reacting to news of the court's decision, Dale Farm spokesman Grattan Puxon said: "We are not going to allow (our youngest) to be terrorised.

"We don't want bailiffs to come in, using force and heavy machinery around our children."

Mr Puxon described the petition as "somewhat confusing" and insisted the community would still fight for a "common sense solution".

He said the travellers would pitch at a site 50 yards south of the contested land, between Dale Farm and the A127, for the next 28 days.

From there, Mr Puxon said, they would make further legal applications.

In May 2005, Basildon Council voted to clear a large part of the settlement. It said that sections of the site had no planning permission.

The High Court rejected the decision, claiming that the council was not offering an acceptable alternative location for the travellers to live.

That was overturned by the latest ruling, meaning they will now be moved on.

"People really fear losing their homes," Joseph Jones, the secretary of the Gypsy Council of England told Sky News prior to the Court of Appeal announcement.

"They have no place to go and will end up on the side of the road." he said.

Travellers first settled at Dale Farm in the 1960s with the then Labour-run council granted planning permission for 40 families.

Since then, though, many more have settled. Most do not have planning permission to be on the land which forms part of the Green Belt.

"Everybody should be treated equally," local MP John Baron said.

The Dale Farm case has been registered with the United Nations Advisory Group on Forced Evictions. The eviction will now be observed by a team of monitors.

Fenland branded the traveller capital of UK

Published Date:
14 January 2009
By ET Staff

Councillors have rejected a new claim that the Fens have become the gypsy capital of the UK.

The outburst comes after a national report found that the Fenland area, which covers Chatteris, March, Whittlesey and Wisbech, has more than 6,000 gypsy residents.

It is also claimed in the Daily Express report that the area is being earmarked for more travellers' sites as part of "highly controversial" plans to provide new pitches for 25,000 gypsies and travellers in the next three years.

And it points out that up to 180 new pitches, with space for up to three caravans each, could be built in Fenland with about £140,000 being spent in Wisbech St Mary extending one of the five official sites in and around the village.

But leader of Fenland District Council Geoff Harper said: "The report is nonsense. There are only plans to introduce about 89 new pitches, not 180."

(MORE)

It is not racist to state that gypsy camps frequently cause an increase in crime and mess - it is a statement of fact

By Harry Phibbs
Last updated at 9:22 AM on 06th January 2009

The Government has issued a decree to local Councils to provide more caravan pitches for gypsies. Their argument seems to be that people have a 'right' to be gypsies and that if councils provide more authorised sites there will be less of a problem with gypsies occupying land illegally.

This is a policy of appeasement of lawlessness. If people want to spend their lives travelling around in caravans then they must operate within the law. They should also rely on finding people willing to accommodate them - not expect special favours from the state.

(MORE)

Gypsy and Traveller sites to be set up

The government has allocated more than a third of a £21 million fund for Gypsies and Travellers to creating new sites.

Over £7 million of the 2009/10 fund, which is aimed at preventing unauthorised encampments, will be spent on new sites. These will be set up in the south west, east of England, south east, and north west. London, and the midlands will only see modifications to existing sites.

Announcing the funding junior housing minister Iain Wright said: ‘The problem of unauthorised camping and the tensions it can cause will only be tackled through sufficient provision of well-managed, authorised sites, coupled with effective enforcement.

‘Site provision helps reduce the need for enforcement action…which costs around £18 million a year.’

Steve Staines, planning worker for Friends, Families and Travellers, said much of the previous rounds of funding went on site refurbishments rather than new sites.

‘The problem is this time [with] 36 per cent going to new sites, if they’re provided by local authorities at around £100,000 a pitch, this isn’t going to provide very much of the grand total of what’s needed, so we have a shortfall that the Homes and Communities Agency needs to look at,’ he said.

He added that more creative ways of using the money should be adopted, such as those put forward in Gypsy and Traveller development plans by Epping Forest. This includes suggestions made to the HCA on introducing self builds and shared ownership on sites.

Declan Carroll, chief executive of Cara Housing Association, is expecting to receive some of the funding. He said the development of new sites is slow as many local authorities have only just finished needs assessments, and there is often local opposition to sites.

Traveller site to get cash boost

A traveller site in Leicester will have more pitches and better living conditions after receiving nearly £36,000 of government funding.

Communities minister Iain Wright said the Meynells Gorse site would be refurbished.

Leicester City Council has been awarded the cash as part of the government's Gypsy and Travellers Sites Grant.

Those living on the new authorised pitches will pay rent, council tax and all other utility bills.

Mr Wright said: "The Gypsy and Traveller Sites grant is crucial to the delivery of both new and better sites to ensure that Gypsies and travellers have authorised, decent places to live.

"The problem of unauthorised camping and the tensions it can cause will only be tackled through sufficient provision of well-managed, authorised sites, coupled with effective enforcement action."

It is hoped that the funding will help reduce the costs of enforcing against unauthorised sites, which costs local authorities about £18m a year.

£2.5m funding for work at Gypsy site

Dec 22 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal

A GOVERNMENT minister has announced almost £2.5m funding to improve a Gypsy site in County Durham.

East Howle site near Ferryhill will be extended and refurbished, Communities Minister Iain Wright announced yesterday. It was one of a number of successful bidders for funding from the Gypsy and Traveller Sites Grant in 2008/9 to provide new pitches to reduce unauthorised camping, and help improve conditions on existing authorised sites.

The funding will enable local authorities and registered social landlords to provide new authorised pitches for residents who will pay rent, council tax and other utility bills.

It is also designed to help reduce the costs of enforcing against unauthorised sites – it is estimated that this costs local authorities around £18m a year.

In the North East, £2.4m of Gypsy and Traveller Sites Grant has been allocated to East Howle. Mr Wright said: “The problem of unauthorised camping and the tensions it can cause will only be tackled through sufficient provision of well-managed, authorised sites, coupled with effective enforcement action.”

The funding announcement comes just over a year after a report commissioned by Durham County Council, landlords of East Howle, found that more permanent sites were needed in the county.

Additional temporary stop-overs for families ‘passing through’ the county should also be considered, it added, and Durham County Council’s six existing sites should be urgently refurbished.

Warwickshire parents remove children from school after gypsy camp is set up nearby

Dec 19 2008 by Christina Savvas, Birmingham Post

Angry parents removed their children from a Warwickshire school because they felt threatened after a group of gypsies set up camp in their village.

The travellers caused uproar when they arrived on the rural site at Darlingscott, near Shipston-on-Stour, next to the home of Olympic minister Tessa Jowell, during the Easter bank holiday.

After a nine-month battle by the local council to evict them, a three-day public enquiry into whether the camp can remain ended at Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall yesterday.

The travellers’ families, who lodged an appeal against eviction, said they bought 16 plots on the site in October 2007 for £20,000 each. But Stratford-on-Avon District Council refused planning permission for the camp and secured an injunction to stop any more people going onto the site and halt building work.

Coun Christopher Saint said: “There was a lot of local concern when the gypsies arrived. They felt compromised by the sudden appearance and felt it created a negative impact on the community. Several parents removed children and transferred them to other schools.”

Coun Michael Hutchins, of Tredington Parish Council, added: “The junior school has had 11 children from the travelling community with potentially another 21 of school age and three pregnant mothers. If they have to take all these children in one go they would not be able to cope.”

He raised concerns about pollution, flooding and dangerous driving.

Paul Cairnes, barrister for the local authority, said allowing the site to remain would be harmful to the rural area. He said Ernest Wilson, who lodged an appeal against the decision to remove the families resulting in the public inquiry, failed to demonstrate the site would meet a need in the district as identified in the Gypsy Travellers Accommodation Assessment.

The team acting for the gypsies said they had a right to permanent residency.

Barrister Michael Rudd said: “What do you expect them to do? Move them down a mile then they move back a mile. It becomes a never ending problem. There is a clear and undisputed significant regional need for additional pitch provision. The personal need of the appellants is also recognised. The appellants perhaps unusually in such cases have attempted to engage in consultation and were ultimately forced to move onto the appeal site in a last resort.”

During the enquiry members of the gypsy community told of their desire to settle permanently on the site so they could educate their children.

Fears over gypsy sites

10:43am Thursday 11th December 2008

By Liza-Jane Gillespie

PLANS to build new gypsy and traveller camps in Pilning have been met with opposition from residents.

Almost 100 people turned out at a special public meeting this week to vent their anger at proposals by South Gloucestershire Council to build two new gypsy and traveller sites and extend an existing site in the village.

The scheme is part of a consultation into possible sites across the district for 53 permanent pitches and 25 transit pitches, which the council was told to find by central government.

The plans for Pilning are to extend an existing site on Bank Road and build a new site nearby with another on Northwick Road.

At the meeting, organised by Pilning and Severn Beach Parish Council, residents said they felt their village was being expected to take more than its fair share of sites.

Karen Widdows, 42 of Pilning, said: "If South Gloucestershire has to do this then I'd expect the entire district to have sites and not for them all to be dumped in one area. It isn't fair."

Some residents said they were concerned about the future of the village if the sites went ahead.

Simon Ball, 47, an electrician from Pilning, said: "If this does go ahead they need to guarantee proper police support to help communities like ours and proper management of the sites."

Concerns were also raised about how close the Bank Road sites would be to the new St Peter's Primary School.

Residents also complained about a lack of communication from the council.

A spokesman said: "South Gloucestershire Council has endeavoured to undertake an extensive and participative approach to engaging local communities in what is an emotive and contentious issue. To support and promote the launch of the Gypsy and Traveller DPD Towards Preferred Options consultation, we have recently undertaken stakeholder workshops, community drop in exhibitions and have widely promoted the Gypsy and Traveller DPD through local community networks and newspaper adverts. In addition a telephone advice line, supported by balanced and accurate media reporting, have all provided a full opportunity for residents to find out more about the DPD and the issues and choices that have to be made in order to respond to the Government's Direction.

"An email was sent to Peter Jackson last week inviting him or his representative to attend a public meeting at Bank Road Primary School on 8th December. This invitation was declined, but an offer to meet with three representatives from the Parish Council was put forward as an alternative. This invitation has been accepted and the position acknowledged by the Parish Council.

"Colleagues in the Children and Young People department (CYP) were fully consulted and made aware of the proposals to include sites in the G&T DPD prior to the document being considered by South Gloucestershire Council's Cabinet on 6th October. The proximity of G&T sites in relation to the new school in Pilning was not objected to in principal by CYP. Should further issues be identified, these will be fully considered following the close of the public consultation.

"The current list of proposals are those plots of land which have been put forward to the Council. In addition, not only has the Council's Property Services department searched council-owned land, subject to criteria from the Spatial Planning team, but the Council continues to have discussions with the Government about other publicly-owned land. These efforts to find suitable sites are on top of letters that the Council has written to the National Farmers' Union and utility companies.

"This is a relatively early stage of the process and some proposals will no doubt drop out of the process after the comments received in this consultation have been analysed. The difficulty the Council has experienced over the years in identifying land continues, but the Council must adhere to the Government's Direction. It is also anticipated that other proposals will emerge from the process. This position was explained to the Pilning and Severn Beach Parish Council in a recent letter.

"The majority of sites will be private for family use and any 'management' will be the same as for any other private dwelling in South Gloucestershire. Once sites have planning permission with attached conditions, planning enforcement will become easier. Only multiple pitch transit sites will have schemes of management and these will be agreed at the planning application stage."