From the Malvern Times
TRAVELLERS forced to quit a site this week left more than just piles of rubbish behind.
The five families living in 10 caravans on Kerswell Green, Kempsey, near Worcester, for just under two weeks were given a court order to get off the land on Wednesday morning but also left behind a bill for parishioners for both the clean-up and the court appearance.
Kempsey Parish Council, which was forced to get the injunction after the Travellers said they would only move on when legally obliged to, said the true cost of the court bills were as yet unknown but that they will be paid for by local people.
Chairman Bob Bowley said: “It will be paid for by the parish and therefore by the parishioners.”
The injuction protects five commons in the parish of Kempsey, including Kerswell Green, Kempsey, Stonehall, Ashmoor and Normoor.
If any Travellers camp on these sites during the next six months they will be immediately served with the removal order.
Malvern Hills District Council will be responsible for the cost of clearing the rubbish from the site and will carry out the clean-up when the weather improves.
Councillor Bowley said: “There is a fair amount of rubbish there, which is no surprise. They left some tar scrap and rubble.
“Technically people who have work done like this should make sure whoever takes it away has the right licence to.
“We were lucky in many respects they didn’t cause any trouble in the village and as far as I am aware there was only one incident of them throwing a stick at a car.
“They went without any problem as they said they would. Most of them had gone by Tuesday evening before I served the order on Wednesday.
“We were pleased to get them away in the sense that they disturb the local population. People are concerned about gipsies but these didn’t cause any trouble.
“We will chain the common again but it doesn’t stop a group like this.”
Sunday 30 September 2012
Saturday 29 September 2012
New move to house travelling Showpeople - Shropshire
From the Shropshire Star
Oswestry’s former waste recycling centre could soon have a new lease of life – as a home for travelling Showpeople.
As well as providing a permanent home for the showpeople, the move will also help Shropshire Council address a shortage of pitches for Gypsies and Travellers in the county.
A planning application by Shropshire Council would, if approved, allow a family of Showpeople to have a permanent home where they could base their five caravans and trailers.
The application to regenerate the former recycling centre at Glovers Meadow on Maesbury Road is part of a project by Shropshire Council to develop gipsy and traveller pitches at three council owned sites in the county.
A statement in support of the bid said: “As a result of the Gypsy and Traveller accommodation assessment conducted nationally from 2008, a shortfall in the number of pitches for Gypsy and Travellers, including travelling Showpeople, was identified in certain locations within the county.
“The council has a duty to provide allocated land to meet these needs county wide.
“Land at Glovers Meadow has been identified and promoted as a suitable site for longer term accommodation for the travelling Showpeople and their caravans and trailers, and application is now being made for a change of use of the former household waste and recycling centre site off Glovers Meadow for this purpose.
“Shropshire Council has recently submitted an application to Homes and Communities Agency through the Affordable Homes Programme for funding towards development of additional pitches at three existing council owned sites in the county.”
Planners hope to determine the application by November 15.
Oswestry’s former waste recycling centre could soon have a new lease of life – as a home for travelling Showpeople.
As well as providing a permanent home for the showpeople, the move will also help Shropshire Council address a shortage of pitches for Gypsies and Travellers in the county.
A planning application by Shropshire Council would, if approved, allow a family of Showpeople to have a permanent home where they could base their five caravans and trailers.
The application to regenerate the former recycling centre at Glovers Meadow on Maesbury Road is part of a project by Shropshire Council to develop gipsy and traveller pitches at three council owned sites in the county.
A statement in support of the bid said: “As a result of the Gypsy and Traveller accommodation assessment conducted nationally from 2008, a shortfall in the number of pitches for Gypsy and Travellers, including travelling Showpeople, was identified in certain locations within the county.
“The council has a duty to provide allocated land to meet these needs county wide.
“Land at Glovers Meadow has been identified and promoted as a suitable site for longer term accommodation for the travelling Showpeople and their caravans and trailers, and application is now being made for a change of use of the former household waste and recycling centre site off Glovers Meadow for this purpose.
“Shropshire Council has recently submitted an application to Homes and Communities Agency through the Affordable Homes Programme for funding towards development of additional pitches at three existing council owned sites in the county.”
Planners hope to determine the application by November 15.
East Worthing and Shoreham MP says police can disrupt Travellers - Sussex
From the Worthing Herald
AN MP has criticised the police’s lack of response to another influx of Travellers to Lancing.
Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, claimed there was more the police could do to “disrupt the activities of future unwanted visitors to these illegal encampments” and said he had written to the chief constable to express his concerns and ask for a meeting.
Mr Loughton spoke out after the arrival of Travellers at Lancing Manor Recreation ground on September 15, following which he said he was “inundated” with calls from angry residents who have had to “put up with substantial inconvenience for a second summer running”.
He added: “Hopefully, they are now well outside the local council boundaries as we have had more than our fair share of problems from these visitors this summer and had hoped we were clear of them for the season.”
He went on to say he was pleased the police had served a section 61 notice on the group – an eviction order – as he claimed they had been reluctant to use it on occasions earlier this year.
Mr Loughton had a meeting with police in August about the issue of Travellers descending on Lancing, Worthing and Shoreham, but believed more still needed to be done.
“There are clearly a number of things the police could do to disrupt the activities of future unwanted visitors to these illegal encampments yet have failed to do so and I want to know the reasons why, as do my constituents,” he said. “I am pleased to note this time the police took the registration details of all the vehicles involved as I had asked previously so that they can check the addresses to which they are registered. However, I gather that when the police arrived this time only a few of the caravans had entered the manor ground and they facilitated the rest joining them from the road.
“Why were they not stopped at that point so the rest of the convoy was forced to split off elsewhere? Perhaps if that had happened the whole lot would have got the message to move on to somewhere less inappropriate.”
In response, Chief Inspector Ian Pollard, Worthing district policing commander, said: “Our role remains that of preserving the peace and preventing crime, a role we undertake robustly. In this case, the Travellers entered the land through an insecure gate left open by contractors. The incursion on to the land was not a criminal offence and the police have no powers to act to prevent them doing so, a point that was made very clear to Mr Loughton at the meeting in August.
“The limitations of the powers of the police and local authorities in dealing with such matters have also been explained to him. The situation at the weekend was under constant review by the police and local councils and when it became clear from incidents reported to police that the conduct of the Travellers was not acceptable, authority was granted for a section 61 order and the police were then able to act quickly in enforcing the removal of the travellers from the site.
“We are working closely with Adur and Worthing Council and West Sussex County Council considering the processes for managing unauthorised encampments. This will be done in consultation with all the interested parties, including local authorities and Traveller representatives, in order that we can achieve the best possible outcome for all the communities involved.
“A lot of the issues raised by Mr Loughton were considered at the meeting in August and responses to other points that he has raised will be made to him in due course.”
AN MP has criticised the police’s lack of response to another influx of Travellers to Lancing.
Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, claimed there was more the police could do to “disrupt the activities of future unwanted visitors to these illegal encampments” and said he had written to the chief constable to express his concerns and ask for a meeting.
Mr Loughton spoke out after the arrival of Travellers at Lancing Manor Recreation ground on September 15, following which he said he was “inundated” with calls from angry residents who have had to “put up with substantial inconvenience for a second summer running”.
He added: “Hopefully, they are now well outside the local council boundaries as we have had more than our fair share of problems from these visitors this summer and had hoped we were clear of them for the season.”
He went on to say he was pleased the police had served a section 61 notice on the group – an eviction order – as he claimed they had been reluctant to use it on occasions earlier this year.
Mr Loughton had a meeting with police in August about the issue of Travellers descending on Lancing, Worthing and Shoreham, but believed more still needed to be done.
“There are clearly a number of things the police could do to disrupt the activities of future unwanted visitors to these illegal encampments yet have failed to do so and I want to know the reasons why, as do my constituents,” he said. “I am pleased to note this time the police took the registration details of all the vehicles involved as I had asked previously so that they can check the addresses to which they are registered. However, I gather that when the police arrived this time only a few of the caravans had entered the manor ground and they facilitated the rest joining them from the road.
“Why were they not stopped at that point so the rest of the convoy was forced to split off elsewhere? Perhaps if that had happened the whole lot would have got the message to move on to somewhere less inappropriate.”
In response, Chief Inspector Ian Pollard, Worthing district policing commander, said: “Our role remains that of preserving the peace and preventing crime, a role we undertake robustly. In this case, the Travellers entered the land through an insecure gate left open by contractors. The incursion on to the land was not a criminal offence and the police have no powers to act to prevent them doing so, a point that was made very clear to Mr Loughton at the meeting in August.
“The limitations of the powers of the police and local authorities in dealing with such matters have also been explained to him. The situation at the weekend was under constant review by the police and local councils and when it became clear from incidents reported to police that the conduct of the Travellers was not acceptable, authority was granted for a section 61 order and the police were then able to act quickly in enforcing the removal of the travellers from the site.
“We are working closely with Adur and Worthing Council and West Sussex County Council considering the processes for managing unauthorised encampments. This will be done in consultation with all the interested parties, including local authorities and Traveller representatives, in order that we can achieve the best possible outcome for all the communities involved.
“A lot of the issues raised by Mr Loughton were considered at the meeting in August and responses to other points that he has raised will be made to him in due course.”
Brigg Travellers to appeal after their site is rejected by planners over flooding and road issues - Lincolnshire
From the Scunthorpe Telegraph
Travellers say they will appeal against a decision to throw out plans to keep 12 plots at a site in Brigg.
The plots on Mill Lane have been in place for at least four years, but have now been rejected twice by planners although planning officials had recommended that the development should be approved.
But councillors said the site was at risk of flooding and raised concerns about highways issues and the fact that the site was outside the town's development boundary.
The council has yet to confirm whether enforcement action to clear the site will now go ahead.
But Travellers say they are furious about the decision, which was made on the casting vote of chairman Arthur Bunyan after votes were split 5-5.
John Mitchell, a Traveller at the site, said: "We are going to appeal the decision. It is absolutely unbelievable how they have come to this decision.
"They even went against the recommendation."
A similar application was turned down in 2008, although the plots have remained on site, which is currently home to 12 static homes as well as 20 touring caravans, since that decision was made because moves to close it down have been repeatedly postponed.
At the time of the original decision, planners said the development was at serious risk of flooding. If permission had been granted, it would have allowed each plot to house up to four caravans.
Planning agent Dr Angus Murdoch told the planning meeting at the Civic Centre in Scunthorpe that the application would have met 54 per cent of North Lincolnshire's further need for gypsy sites.
He also said the application had addressed the issue of flood risk by raising the level of the land at the site.
But several councillors disagreed and raised concerns about the plans.
Councillor Carl Sherwood said: "As far as I am concerned, nothing has changed since the last application.
"I don't think that by raising the ground level by a few millimetres, it will solve the problem of flooding.
"I have lived in Brigg all my life and this area has always been sodden and prone to flooding.
"The site is also outside of the Brigg development boundary."
However, councillor Sandra Bainbridge spoke in favour of the application, saying she was impressed by the site.
"For at least four years, the site has been there and as far as I know there have not been any objections," she said.
Those behind the plans now have a right of appeal to the Government that could overturn the council's decision.
Yet a similar appeal after the initial rejection in 2008 was thrown out.
Travellers say they will appeal against a decision to throw out plans to keep 12 plots at a site in Brigg.
The plots on Mill Lane have been in place for at least four years, but have now been rejected twice by planners although planning officials had recommended that the development should be approved.
But councillors said the site was at risk of flooding and raised concerns about highways issues and the fact that the site was outside the town's development boundary.
The council has yet to confirm whether enforcement action to clear the site will now go ahead.
But Travellers say they are furious about the decision, which was made on the casting vote of chairman Arthur Bunyan after votes were split 5-5.
John Mitchell, a Traveller at the site, said: "We are going to appeal the decision. It is absolutely unbelievable how they have come to this decision.
"They even went against the recommendation."
A similar application was turned down in 2008, although the plots have remained on site, which is currently home to 12 static homes as well as 20 touring caravans, since that decision was made because moves to close it down have been repeatedly postponed.
At the time of the original decision, planners said the development was at serious risk of flooding. If permission had been granted, it would have allowed each plot to house up to four caravans.
Planning agent Dr Angus Murdoch told the planning meeting at the Civic Centre in Scunthorpe that the application would have met 54 per cent of North Lincolnshire's further need for gypsy sites.
He also said the application had addressed the issue of flood risk by raising the level of the land at the site.
But several councillors disagreed and raised concerns about the plans.
Councillor Carl Sherwood said: "As far as I am concerned, nothing has changed since the last application.
"I don't think that by raising the ground level by a few millimetres, it will solve the problem of flooding.
"I have lived in Brigg all my life and this area has always been sodden and prone to flooding.
"The site is also outside of the Brigg development boundary."
However, councillor Sandra Bainbridge spoke in favour of the application, saying she was impressed by the site.
"For at least four years, the site has been there and as far as I know there have not been any objections," she said.
Those behind the plans now have a right of appeal to the Government that could overturn the council's decision.
Yet a similar appeal after the initial rejection in 2008 was thrown out.
Cabinet accepts short-term Traveller proposals - Berkshire
From the Maidenhead Advertiser
A short-term plan for accommodating Travellers came a step closer to being finalised at a Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead cabinet meeting last night.
At the meeting in Maidenhead Town Hall, cabinet members agreed to accept a report recommending land at Mill Place in Datchet be considered for Gypsy and Traveller use after it found at least 10 additional pitches would be needed by 2017.
But the cabinet were criticised from the public gallery by Cllr Malcolm Beer (Ind, Old Windsor), who said a planning and housing overview and scrutiny recommendation on the report was not discussed to a satisfactory standard, which he said 'does not represent open and transparent government'.
The recommendations called for the report to be deferred for a month to make the proposal more legally robust and to consult again on 23 sites originally short-listed for new pitches.
Cllr Christine Bateson (Con, Sunningdale) said the 23 sites were still being considered in the medium to long-term but the report had identified four potential short-term sites following a survey of 52 Gypsy and Traveller households in the Royal Borough, with Mill Place earmarked as the most suitable land.
Cabinet chairman David Burbage (Con, Bray) added the cabinet agenda had been printed before the overview and scrutiny meeting, but the recommendations had now been noted.
The survey was part of a collaboration being the Royal Borough and Reading, Wokingham, West Berkshire and Bracknell Forest councils to address Gypsy and Traveller issues.
In a written statement, Datchet councillor Jesse Grey (Con) said the village's Travellers were 'very much a part of the community'.
A short-term plan for accommodating Travellers came a step closer to being finalised at a Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead cabinet meeting last night.
At the meeting in Maidenhead Town Hall, cabinet members agreed to accept a report recommending land at Mill Place in Datchet be considered for Gypsy and Traveller use after it found at least 10 additional pitches would be needed by 2017.
But the cabinet were criticised from the public gallery by Cllr Malcolm Beer (Ind, Old Windsor), who said a planning and housing overview and scrutiny recommendation on the report was not discussed to a satisfactory standard, which he said 'does not represent open and transparent government'.
The recommendations called for the report to be deferred for a month to make the proposal more legally robust and to consult again on 23 sites originally short-listed for new pitches.
Cllr Christine Bateson (Con, Sunningdale) said the 23 sites were still being considered in the medium to long-term but the report had identified four potential short-term sites following a survey of 52 Gypsy and Traveller households in the Royal Borough, with Mill Place earmarked as the most suitable land.
Cabinet chairman David Burbage (Con, Bray) added the cabinet agenda had been printed before the overview and scrutiny meeting, but the recommendations had now been noted.
The survey was part of a collaboration being the Royal Borough and Reading, Wokingham, West Berkshire and Bracknell Forest councils to address Gypsy and Traveller issues.
In a written statement, Datchet councillor Jesse Grey (Con) said the village's Travellers were 'very much a part of the community'.
CREWKERNE: Gypsy family moves on after £45,000 court battle - Somerset
From View Online
A GIFT of land to three villages near Crewkerne is on course following the end of a four-year legal battle to evict a Gypsy family living on it.
Somerset County Council now plans to proceed with the transfer of the wooded beauty spot at Eggwood Hill, Lopen, part of which had been occupied by the Hughes family since May 2008.
After the transfer is complete Merriott, Hinton St George and Lopen parish councils will own the land straddling their boundaries, which is currently used as public exercise and relaxation space and was previously a roadside highways chipping store.
Cabinet member Councillor David Huxtable said: “I’m pleased that the residents have the uninhibited use of Eggwood Hill again, and that we can resume the process of transferring the land to the three parish councils. The county council has been frustrated that the legal process of getting our land back has taken so long, so it is good that we can now make progress with transferring the land for the local residents to enjoy.”
Eviction of the family had been applied for as long ago as 2009 but this time a court-set deadline of September 18th for the family of eight to move on was met.
A £1,800 clean-up operation was completed by contractors over the weekend and the site has been permanently secured. Much of what was left behind had been burnt, including a static caravan, but gas cylinders and a fridge were also found.
The cleaning bill is on top of more than £45,000 in legal expenses and other associated costs paid by the council in taking the occupying family to court and securing eviction since they moved onto the land in May 2008.
A GIFT of land to three villages near Crewkerne is on course following the end of a four-year legal battle to evict a Gypsy family living on it.
Somerset County Council now plans to proceed with the transfer of the wooded beauty spot at Eggwood Hill, Lopen, part of which had been occupied by the Hughes family since May 2008.
After the transfer is complete Merriott, Hinton St George and Lopen parish councils will own the land straddling their boundaries, which is currently used as public exercise and relaxation space and was previously a roadside highways chipping store.
Cabinet member Councillor David Huxtable said: “I’m pleased that the residents have the uninhibited use of Eggwood Hill again, and that we can resume the process of transferring the land to the three parish councils. The county council has been frustrated that the legal process of getting our land back has taken so long, so it is good that we can now make progress with transferring the land for the local residents to enjoy.”
Eviction of the family had been applied for as long ago as 2009 but this time a court-set deadline of September 18th for the family of eight to move on was met.
A £1,800 clean-up operation was completed by contractors over the weekend and the site has been permanently secured. Much of what was left behind had been burnt, including a static caravan, but gas cylinders and a fridge were also found.
The cleaning bill is on top of more than £45,000 in legal expenses and other associated costs paid by the council in taking the occupying family to court and securing eviction since they moved onto the land in May 2008.
Police investigate vandalism at Meriden camp battling Gypsy site
From the Birmingham Mail
VILLAGERS fighting an Gypsy site in Meriden have had their long-running protest camp vandalised – days after complaining about rising crime.
Furious members of Residents Against Inappropriate Development said their brazier was damaged and firewood strewn all over the adjacent Eaves Green Lane in the overnight attack.
Police have confirmed they were investigating the incident which took place on a rare occasion when the camp was unattended.
Campaigners built the shelter in the lane to counter the Gypsy camp, set up in a nearby field in May 2010.
After a High Court wrangle, the Travellers have been given until next March to leave.
David McGrath, chairman of RAID, said no-one was on duty at the camp at the time due to sickness.
The attack came just days after villagers claimed they had seen rising crime in the community – including ten burglaries and two attacks on power lines – at a public meeting with police.
Mr McGrath said of the RAID camp vandalism: “This is outrageous and unacceptable. The police went to a lot of trouble to install a CCTV facility in the Lane but have never switched it on owing – we believe – to objections from the Travellers.
“If the camera was on, this and other events would be there for all to see. The police attendance at incidents has been good but we need preventative action too and we believe that the camera would help.
“Even when we submitted a petition by 200 people calling on the police and council’s Community Safety Partnership to take action we were told that nothing would be done. This is political correctness gone mad and our right to protection and security is as valid as anyone else’s rights.”
But a report presented to the borough’s cabinet this month by Solihull Council community safety manager Gillian Magee stated Gypsies in Meriden were sometimes the victims of attacks.
She wrote: “The police have had 49 calls for service since April 30, 2010, relating to different types of anti-social behaviour and crimes in this area – not all relate to allegations against occupants of the Travellers’ site. A number of these reports relate to the victimisation of the occupants of the Travellers’ site.”
The report concluded: “The surveillance cameras have certain limitations and it is not felt that they would add anything to the police processes for handling anti-social behaviour and crime in this area at this point in time.”
A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said yesterday: “We are investigating the incident.”
VILLAGERS fighting an Gypsy site in Meriden have had their long-running protest camp vandalised – days after complaining about rising crime.
Furious members of Residents Against Inappropriate Development said their brazier was damaged and firewood strewn all over the adjacent Eaves Green Lane in the overnight attack.
Police have confirmed they were investigating the incident which took place on a rare occasion when the camp was unattended.
Campaigners built the shelter in the lane to counter the Gypsy camp, set up in a nearby field in May 2010.
After a High Court wrangle, the Travellers have been given until next March to leave.
David McGrath, chairman of RAID, said no-one was on duty at the camp at the time due to sickness.
The attack came just days after villagers claimed they had seen rising crime in the community – including ten burglaries and two attacks on power lines – at a public meeting with police.
Mr McGrath said of the RAID camp vandalism: “This is outrageous and unacceptable. The police went to a lot of trouble to install a CCTV facility in the Lane but have never switched it on owing – we believe – to objections from the Travellers.
“If the camera was on, this and other events would be there for all to see. The police attendance at incidents has been good but we need preventative action too and we believe that the camera would help.
“Even when we submitted a petition by 200 people calling on the police and council’s Community Safety Partnership to take action we were told that nothing would be done. This is political correctness gone mad and our right to protection and security is as valid as anyone else’s rights.”
But a report presented to the borough’s cabinet this month by Solihull Council community safety manager Gillian Magee stated Gypsies in Meriden were sometimes the victims of attacks.
She wrote: “The police have had 49 calls for service since April 30, 2010, relating to different types of anti-social behaviour and crimes in this area – not all relate to allegations against occupants of the Travellers’ site. A number of these reports relate to the victimisation of the occupants of the Travellers’ site.”
The report concluded: “The surveillance cameras have certain limitations and it is not felt that they would add anything to the police processes for handling anti-social behaviour and crime in this area at this point in time.”
A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said yesterday: “We are investigating the incident.”
Friday 28 September 2012
Extra Gypsy homes get go-ahead - Cheshire
From the Winsford Guardian
MORE pitches will be built in Winsford after planners finally gave the green light to amended proposals for a new Gypsy and Travellers’ site off Barlow Drive.
Eighteen permanent pitches will be provided on a 1.22 hectare plot on Woodford Park Industrial Estate.
Each pitch will have a utility block, car parking for two vehicles, and room for both a touring caravan and a static caravan.
Twenty pitches were approved in February but the decision was called in amid fierce opposition from residents and town council.
Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) gave the altered proposal the go ahead on Thursday night, at a meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee.
Supporting documents claim the site is of ‘strategic significance’ to the council’s plans to provide Gypsy and Travellers sites.
The 18 new pitches at Barlow Drive are in addition to a Travellers’ site on Rilshaw Lane.
There is also a travelling Showpersons’ site at Bradford Road, with plans for another on Winsford Industrial Estate.
Clr Don Beckett spoke out against the proposals in February.
He said: “I object still to this application on such concerns as the size, the massing and the affect on future employment and jobs, and not less the affect on housing prices in Winsford.
“We already have three sites in Winsford. There are six more in Middlewich and Sandbach and more in Crewe. We should spread the sites out around Cheshire West.”
CWAC has allocated £2.7 million to support traveller sites.
Alison Amesbury, CWAC’s housing strategy and enabling manager, said there was ‘well evidenced and long standing’ need for permanent gipsy and traveller sites in the borough.
She said: “There are a large number of unauthorised camps. This will only continue until permanent provision is made.
“This site will begin to address the long standing and unmet need of gipsy and travellers in the borough.”
She added that other sites had been looked at, but Barlow Drive was the ‘best suited’.
Six councillors voted in favour; two against the proposals, one abstained.
MORE pitches will be built in Winsford after planners finally gave the green light to amended proposals for a new Gypsy and Travellers’ site off Barlow Drive.
Eighteen permanent pitches will be provided on a 1.22 hectare plot on Woodford Park Industrial Estate.
Each pitch will have a utility block, car parking for two vehicles, and room for both a touring caravan and a static caravan.
Twenty pitches were approved in February but the decision was called in amid fierce opposition from residents and town council.
Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) gave the altered proposal the go ahead on Thursday night, at a meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee.
Supporting documents claim the site is of ‘strategic significance’ to the council’s plans to provide Gypsy and Travellers sites.
The 18 new pitches at Barlow Drive are in addition to a Travellers’ site on Rilshaw Lane.
There is also a travelling Showpersons’ site at Bradford Road, with plans for another on Winsford Industrial Estate.
Clr Don Beckett spoke out against the proposals in February.
He said: “I object still to this application on such concerns as the size, the massing and the affect on future employment and jobs, and not less the affect on housing prices in Winsford.
“We already have three sites in Winsford. There are six more in Middlewich and Sandbach and more in Crewe. We should spread the sites out around Cheshire West.”
CWAC has allocated £2.7 million to support traveller sites.
Alison Amesbury, CWAC’s housing strategy and enabling manager, said there was ‘well evidenced and long standing’ need for permanent gipsy and traveller sites in the borough.
She said: “There are a large number of unauthorised camps. This will only continue until permanent provision is made.
“This site will begin to address the long standing and unmet need of gipsy and travellers in the borough.”
She added that other sites had been looked at, but Barlow Drive was the ‘best suited’.
Six councillors voted in favour; two against the proposals, one abstained.
Police monitor Leeds pub site after Travellers move in - Yorkshire
From the Yorkshire Evening Post
POLICE are monitoring the site of a demolished Leeds pub after Travellers moved in today.
West Yorkshire Police were called shortly after 9am after Travellers set up camp on private land on Holbeck Lane, where the Lord Nelson pub used to stand.
The disused pub was demolished last year after being gutted by fire.
A police spokesman said: “Advice has been provided to the complainant regarding the civil process required to evict travellers from areas of private land.
“Patrols in the area will monitor the site and respond appropriately to any incident requiring a police presence.”
POLICE are monitoring the site of a demolished Leeds pub after Travellers moved in today.
West Yorkshire Police were called shortly after 9am after Travellers set up camp on private land on Holbeck Lane, where the Lord Nelson pub used to stand.
The disused pub was demolished last year after being gutted by fire.
A police spokesman said: “Advice has been provided to the complainant regarding the civil process required to evict travellers from areas of private land.
“Patrols in the area will monitor the site and respond appropriately to any incident requiring a police presence.”
Community council claims Crook of Devon Moss Travellers' site report was misleading - Kinross-shire
From the Courier
Fossoway and District Community Council said there were ''significant material and verifiable errors'' in a report placed before August's meeting of the development management committee.
It had recommended approval for the Crook of Devon Moss site application for five permanent Gypsy/Traveller stances.
The community council has referred the matter to Perth and Kinross Council's complaints and governance officer, listing four ''material'' errors it claims could have misled the committee.
They include matters concerning the settlement boundary, and perceived misinterpretation of national policy on Gypsy/Traveller sites.
The complaint also claims there was an objection to the plan by SEPA, which was not flagged up, and that the need for new sites was overestimated.
The community council's Alastair Lavery said: ''The overall effect of these errors is to create an impression in the report… that the proposed development was less contentious in planning terms than it is.
''These errors could only mislead readers of the report and, given its status as a report to the development management committee, lead to an erroneous and perhaps illegal decision.''
A separate letter has also been sent to the council head of planning and regeneration, David Littlejohn, by community council chairman Sandy Morrison, claiming a ''lack of local engagement'' over the issue has caused ''significant reputational damage'' to the department.
Part of the application for the Crook Moss site, a former rubbish dump, is in retrospect because there have been Gypsy/Travellers living there since March.
A number of caravans are already on the site, including one semi-permanent chalet-style caravan. Surfaces have been put in place to act as stances and portable toilets have been erected.
Objectors are furious the occupants have been dumping ''grey water'' waste and making noise with their generators and accuse them of ''riding roughshod'' over local opinion.
Although the issue was deferred as councillors sought additional information about drainage and potential contamination, they did suggest it could be approved in the future.
However, local councillor Mike Barnacle said there should be a ''cast iron refusal'' when the matter returns before committee, adding: ''It is yet another example of large-scale objection by a community and local councillors being ignored by council planners.''
The applicant has been invited to submit a fresh application or further information to planners.
A council spokesman acknowledged that a complaint has been received but said it was unable to comment on an ongoing planning matter.
Fossoway and District Community Council said there were ''significant material and verifiable errors'' in a report placed before August's meeting of the development management committee.
It had recommended approval for the Crook of Devon Moss site application for five permanent Gypsy/Traveller stances.
The community council has referred the matter to Perth and Kinross Council's complaints and governance officer, listing four ''material'' errors it claims could have misled the committee.
They include matters concerning the settlement boundary, and perceived misinterpretation of national policy on Gypsy/Traveller sites.
The complaint also claims there was an objection to the plan by SEPA, which was not flagged up, and that the need for new sites was overestimated.
The community council's Alastair Lavery said: ''The overall effect of these errors is to create an impression in the report… that the proposed development was less contentious in planning terms than it is.
''These errors could only mislead readers of the report and, given its status as a report to the development management committee, lead to an erroneous and perhaps illegal decision.''
A separate letter has also been sent to the council head of planning and regeneration, David Littlejohn, by community council chairman Sandy Morrison, claiming a ''lack of local engagement'' over the issue has caused ''significant reputational damage'' to the department.
Part of the application for the Crook Moss site, a former rubbish dump, is in retrospect because there have been Gypsy/Travellers living there since March.
A number of caravans are already on the site, including one semi-permanent chalet-style caravan. Surfaces have been put in place to act as stances and portable toilets have been erected.
Objectors are furious the occupants have been dumping ''grey water'' waste and making noise with their generators and accuse them of ''riding roughshod'' over local opinion.
Although the issue was deferred as councillors sought additional information about drainage and potential contamination, they did suggest it could be approved in the future.
However, local councillor Mike Barnacle said there should be a ''cast iron refusal'' when the matter returns before committee, adding: ''It is yet another example of large-scale objection by a community and local councillors being ignored by council planners.''
The applicant has been invited to submit a fresh application or further information to planners.
A council spokesman acknowledged that a complaint has been received but said it was unable to comment on an ongoing planning matter.
Shatter urged to make statement on Hogan’s Traveller letter - Ireland
From the journal.ie
JUSTICE MINISTER ALAN Shatter has been called on to make a statement in relation to Environment Minister Phil Hogan’s alleged interference in the housing allocation process for a Traveller family in Kilkenny.
Fianna Fáil has called on Shatter, who is also equality minister, to make a statement and to have time set aside in the Dáil for what the party’s justice spokesperson, Niall Collins, said was “a serious breach of a citizen’s fundamental rights”.
Hogan became embroiled in controversy yesterday when it emerged that he wrote a letter to constituents in Bonnettstown in Kilkenny informing them that the McCarthys, a Traveller family, would not be allocated a house in the area.
He defended his actions saying that he had been in receipt of information in relation to the matter and had passed this onto the local authority but there have been calls for him to more fully explain himself.
Collins made the call for a statement from Shatter on the matter during the Dáil’s Order of Business yesterday.
In a statement issued later, he said: “This revelation raises serious questions about the conduct of a senior Cabinet Minister, and it is in the public interest that we be given the opportunity to clarify certain matters arising from this case, in particular the apparent abandonment of any principles of equality.
“We now know that a senior Minister sought to conspire against a citizen of the State in a process where one is entitled to expect equality and due process.
“This intervention by Minister Hogan is a very serious breach of an individual’s fundamental right to be treated equally before the law.”
He said that it was a “matter of real public concern” and urged Shatter to “protect the principles of equality” in Ireland by making a statement on the issue as a matter of urgency.
JUSTICE MINISTER ALAN Shatter has been called on to make a statement in relation to Environment Minister Phil Hogan’s alleged interference in the housing allocation process for a Traveller family in Kilkenny.
Fianna Fáil has called on Shatter, who is also equality minister, to make a statement and to have time set aside in the Dáil for what the party’s justice spokesperson, Niall Collins, said was “a serious breach of a citizen’s fundamental rights”.
Hogan became embroiled in controversy yesterday when it emerged that he wrote a letter to constituents in Bonnettstown in Kilkenny informing them that the McCarthys, a Traveller family, would not be allocated a house in the area.
He defended his actions saying that he had been in receipt of information in relation to the matter and had passed this onto the local authority but there have been calls for him to more fully explain himself.
Collins made the call for a statement from Shatter on the matter during the Dáil’s Order of Business yesterday.
In a statement issued later, he said: “This revelation raises serious questions about the conduct of a senior Cabinet Minister, and it is in the public interest that we be given the opportunity to clarify certain matters arising from this case, in particular the apparent abandonment of any principles of equality.
“We now know that a senior Minister sought to conspire against a citizen of the State in a process where one is entitled to expect equality and due process.
“This intervention by Minister Hogan is a very serious breach of an individual’s fundamental right to be treated equally before the law.”
He said that it was a “matter of real public concern” and urged Shatter to “protect the principles of equality” in Ireland by making a statement on the issue as a matter of urgency.
Concern over the welfare of Travellers at Crays Hill - Essex
From the Echo
TRAVELLERS living on the roadside near to the former Dale Farm site in Crays Hill, should have their health and welfare urgently assessed, according to a report from MPs.
The Travellers – now living in about 20 caravans at the roadside in Oak Lane, at the entrance to the former illegal site – are rarely seen by health visitors, have no toilets and are plagued by rats, according to the findings.
But, despite the concerns raised by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, Basildon Council’s leader Tony Ball said the authority remained committed to taking enforcement action against those still living illegally at the roadside.
The group visited Oak Lane alongside the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain group, the British Red Cross and volunteers who have been working with those still living there.
Their visit came as the first anniversary of the eviction of the site, last October, approaches.
Following their visit, a report produced by the group said conditions in Oak Lane were “terrible”, with travellers fetching fresh water in jugs from the nearby legal Traveller site and coping with no electricity.
It said none of the children living in Oak Lane attended secondary school, and poor conditions had caused a recent outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea, with the report claiming 15 children had to visit local GPs.
The report calls on Basildon Council to immediately assess the health and welfare of people living at the site and refrain from carrying out further evictions as the travellers have nowhere to go. It calls on the Children’s Commissioner to visit the site to examine the risks to health of children and babies living in Oak Lane.
But Mr Ball called on the group – which includes MPs Andy Slaughter and Jane Connolly and Lib Dem peer Lord Avebury – to encourage Travellers to take up Basildon Council’s offer of temporary accommodation.
He said: “The council has a duty to uphold the law and remains committed to ensuring the enforcement notices are complied with.
“I said last year there was no need for people to be living on the roadside and to engage with the council regarding personal needs.
“Unfortunately, this has not happened and despite the council making repeated offers of temporary accommodation, none have been accepted.
“If the group is concerned with the welfare of the Travellers on Oak Lane, it should be encouraging them to make homelessness applications so those who genuinely have nowhere else to go can be offered suitable temporary accommodation in accordance with our statutory homelessness duty.”
Travellers living in Oak Lane have appealed against Basildon Council notices to leave the area by tomorrow.
TRAVELLERS living on the roadside near to the former Dale Farm site in Crays Hill, should have their health and welfare urgently assessed, according to a report from MPs.
The Travellers – now living in about 20 caravans at the roadside in Oak Lane, at the entrance to the former illegal site – are rarely seen by health visitors, have no toilets and are plagued by rats, according to the findings.
But, despite the concerns raised by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, Basildon Council’s leader Tony Ball said the authority remained committed to taking enforcement action against those still living illegally at the roadside.
The group visited Oak Lane alongside the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain group, the British Red Cross and volunteers who have been working with those still living there.
Their visit came as the first anniversary of the eviction of the site, last October, approaches.
Following their visit, a report produced by the group said conditions in Oak Lane were “terrible”, with travellers fetching fresh water in jugs from the nearby legal Traveller site and coping with no electricity.
It said none of the children living in Oak Lane attended secondary school, and poor conditions had caused a recent outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea, with the report claiming 15 children had to visit local GPs.
The report calls on Basildon Council to immediately assess the health and welfare of people living at the site and refrain from carrying out further evictions as the travellers have nowhere to go. It calls on the Children’s Commissioner to visit the site to examine the risks to health of children and babies living in Oak Lane.
But Mr Ball called on the group – which includes MPs Andy Slaughter and Jane Connolly and Lib Dem peer Lord Avebury – to encourage Travellers to take up Basildon Council’s offer of temporary accommodation.
He said: “The council has a duty to uphold the law and remains committed to ensuring the enforcement notices are complied with.
“I said last year there was no need for people to be living on the roadside and to engage with the council regarding personal needs.
“Unfortunately, this has not happened and despite the council making repeated offers of temporary accommodation, none have been accepted.
“If the group is concerned with the welfare of the Travellers on Oak Lane, it should be encouraging them to make homelessness applications so those who genuinely have nowhere else to go can be offered suitable temporary accommodation in accordance with our statutory homelessness duty.”
Travellers living in Oak Lane have appealed against Basildon Council notices to leave the area by tomorrow.
Gypsy and Traveller site worry due to the lack of amenities - Somerset
From the Shepton Mallet Journal
Planners have voted to refuse a controversial application for a Traveller and Gypsy site, which is currently with the planning inspectorate at appeal.
The appeal relates to an application for an eight-plot Gypsy and Traveller site at Cock and Bull Drove, in Pilton.
The applicant lodged an appeal on the grounds of non-determination of the application after he was advised that the planning officer would recommend refusal to Mendip District Council's Planning Board.
Planning team manager, Matthew Williams, told members of the Board at a meeting last Wednesday evening, that due to the appeal, they no longer had jurisdiction over the decision, but it was necessary to establish how the planning board would have determined the application had it not gone to appeal, as this would form the basis of the local authority's appeal statement.
He said that a previous application had been refused in 2010 on the grounds of sustainability and the impact on the character and appearance of the area.
An appeal against the refusal was dismissed in September last year.
Mr Williams said the board had to be satisfied that these reasons for refusal in the last application, had been overcome in order to give this application the go-ahead.
He added that the need for sites in Mendip supports the proposal but this must be weighed against other issues, which in this case relate to the harm caused to the character and appearance of the area.
Objections had been raised by Pilton Parish Council and, at public consultation, two letters of objection had been received.
There was also an issue of a public right of way that would have to be moved and an ongoing row about access to the site.
Resident Brian Derek who spoke at the meeting said he represented more than 180 people who had signed a petition against the proposal.
He said there were no public amenities near the site, that the public transport was minimal and that the roads were too narrow for the amount of traffic it would cause.
Councillor Nigel Hewitt-Cooper said there no amenities in the area and the bus service has also been reduced.
He also said that there would still be a significant increase in traffic on the lanes with the eight pitches.
Councillor George Steer said it surprised him that Highways department had not objected due to the narrow lanes.
Mr Hewitt-Cooper proposed that they refuse the application on the grounds that the previous reasons for refusal had not been cleared up.
Councillors voted unanimously to refuse the application.
Planners have voted to refuse a controversial application for a Traveller and Gypsy site, which is currently with the planning inspectorate at appeal.
The appeal relates to an application for an eight-plot Gypsy and Traveller site at Cock and Bull Drove, in Pilton.
The applicant lodged an appeal on the grounds of non-determination of the application after he was advised that the planning officer would recommend refusal to Mendip District Council's Planning Board.
Planning team manager, Matthew Williams, told members of the Board at a meeting last Wednesday evening, that due to the appeal, they no longer had jurisdiction over the decision, but it was necessary to establish how the planning board would have determined the application had it not gone to appeal, as this would form the basis of the local authority's appeal statement.
He said that a previous application had been refused in 2010 on the grounds of sustainability and the impact on the character and appearance of the area.
An appeal against the refusal was dismissed in September last year.
Mr Williams said the board had to be satisfied that these reasons for refusal in the last application, had been overcome in order to give this application the go-ahead.
He added that the need for sites in Mendip supports the proposal but this must be weighed against other issues, which in this case relate to the harm caused to the character and appearance of the area.
Objections had been raised by Pilton Parish Council and, at public consultation, two letters of objection had been received.
There was also an issue of a public right of way that would have to be moved and an ongoing row about access to the site.
Resident Brian Derek who spoke at the meeting said he represented more than 180 people who had signed a petition against the proposal.
He said there were no public amenities near the site, that the public transport was minimal and that the roads were too narrow for the amount of traffic it would cause.
Councillor Nigel Hewitt-Cooper said there no amenities in the area and the bus service has also been reduced.
He also said that there would still be a significant increase in traffic on the lanes with the eight pitches.
Councillor George Steer said it surprised him that Highways department had not objected due to the narrow lanes.
Mr Hewitt-Cooper proposed that they refuse the application on the grounds that the previous reasons for refusal had not been cleared up.
Councillors voted unanimously to refuse the application.
Thursday 27 September 2012
Batley town centre Travellers to be evicted - Yorkshire
From the Batley and Birstall News
Travellers pitched up in a Batley town centre car park will be moved on by the council.
Around eight caravans moved onto the Wards Hill short-stay car park, in Wellington Lane, at lunchtime today (Thursday).
A spokeswoman from Kirklees Council said the group moved to the car park from a private car park belonging to Blakeridge Mills owners Binks Developments Ltd.
Previously the group were pitched in Dale Lane, Heckmondwike.
Proceedings to move the Travellers from the council-owned car park will begin tomorrow (Friday).
Travellers pitched up in a Batley town centre car park will be moved on by the council.
Around eight caravans moved onto the Wards Hill short-stay car park, in Wellington Lane, at lunchtime today (Thursday).
A spokeswoman from Kirklees Council said the group moved to the car park from a private car park belonging to Blakeridge Mills owners Binks Developments Ltd.
Previously the group were pitched in Dale Lane, Heckmondwike.
Proceedings to move the Travellers from the council-owned car park will begin tomorrow (Friday).
"Fight for Sites" campaign launched
From Workers Liberty
On 20 September, around 50 supporters of the Traveller Solidarity Network gathered in Toynbee Hall in East London to launch a new campaign, Fight For Sites.
The Traveller Solidarity Network sprang up out of the battle to stop the brutal eviction of Traveller families from the Dale Farm site in Essex following a long campaign by the Tory council, supported by a racist local press and a groundswell of anti-Traveller bigotry.
The meeting heard speeches from outside supporters of the anti-eviction campaign, and also from members of the Traveller community, including a speaker from the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain.
A severe shortfall of sites in the UK limits access to public services, including education and healthcare, and exposes communities to harassment from rightwing local residents, local councils, bailiffs and the police. Every day families are moved on or evicted, often from land that they own. In England there is a shortage of over 4,000 individual caravan pitches, and thus an increased pressure for Travellers to move into bricks and mortar housing against their will and with negative effects on health, wellbeing and community [EHRC, 2010]. The Coalition government’s Localism Act has made the situation worse – abolishing previous targets for caravan site provision whilst strengthening eviction and police move-on powers.
The Fight For Sites campaign will fight against racist anti-Traveller agitation, target companies that profit from evictions and land developers who fuel evictions by buying up land – and it will lobby local councils and campaign against the Localism Act and Eric Pickles’s centralised anti-Traveller drive.
The campaign will begin with a demonstration meeting at Victoria train station in London at 1pm on 19 October, the anniversary of the Dale Farm eviction.
More info: travellersolidarity.org
07984 126 326
On 20 September, around 50 supporters of the Traveller Solidarity Network gathered in Toynbee Hall in East London to launch a new campaign, Fight For Sites.
The Traveller Solidarity Network sprang up out of the battle to stop the brutal eviction of Traveller families from the Dale Farm site in Essex following a long campaign by the Tory council, supported by a racist local press and a groundswell of anti-Traveller bigotry.
The meeting heard speeches from outside supporters of the anti-eviction campaign, and also from members of the Traveller community, including a speaker from the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain.
A severe shortfall of sites in the UK limits access to public services, including education and healthcare, and exposes communities to harassment from rightwing local residents, local councils, bailiffs and the police. Every day families are moved on or evicted, often from land that they own. In England there is a shortage of over 4,000 individual caravan pitches, and thus an increased pressure for Travellers to move into bricks and mortar housing against their will and with negative effects on health, wellbeing and community [EHRC, 2010]. The Coalition government’s Localism Act has made the situation worse – abolishing previous targets for caravan site provision whilst strengthening eviction and police move-on powers.
The Fight For Sites campaign will fight against racist anti-Traveller agitation, target companies that profit from evictions and land developers who fuel evictions by buying up land – and it will lobby local councils and campaign against the Localism Act and Eric Pickles’s centralised anti-Traveller drive.
The campaign will begin with a demonstration meeting at Victoria train station in London at 1pm on 19 October, the anniversary of the Dale Farm eviction.
More info: travellersolidarity.org
07984 126 326
TRAVELLERS LOCKED OUT! - North Ayrshire
From the Irvine Times
TRAVELLERS will no longer be able to set up camp on a disused Irvine site after council bosses put up padlocked gates, blocking unauthorised access.
In June an illegal encampment set up temporary home in the old BT Exchange building in Shewalton Road, sparking outrage from local residents.
At the time residents complained about the noise and mess the travellers were making and claimed they were 'shouting, bawling and running generators past 2am'.
Some householders claimed Travellers were making a nuisance of themselves by 'tearing up and down the road in their cars, leaving skid marks' and one resident even claimed they had seen someone trying to break in to the building using a crowbar.
After facing furious opposition to their settlement the campers moved on after only a week - but locals demanded the site be made secure to prevent further visits.
Now North Ayrshire Council have secured the site by installing metal gates which are padlocked and surrounded by large rocks to prevent illegal accessare made to gain unauthorised access to this particular site."
TRAVELLERS will no longer be able to set up camp on a disused Irvine site after council bosses put up padlocked gates, blocking unauthorised access.
In June an illegal encampment set up temporary home in the old BT Exchange building in Shewalton Road, sparking outrage from local residents.
At the time residents complained about the noise and mess the travellers were making and claimed they were 'shouting, bawling and running generators past 2am'.
Some householders claimed Travellers were making a nuisance of themselves by 'tearing up and down the road in their cars, leaving skid marks' and one resident even claimed they had seen someone trying to break in to the building using a crowbar.
After facing furious opposition to their settlement the campers moved on after only a week - but locals demanded the site be made secure to prevent further visits.
Now North Ayrshire Council have secured the site by installing metal gates which are padlocked and surrounded by large rocks to prevent illegal accessare made to gain unauthorised access to this particular site."
Five sentenced for parts in Travellers' feud - Essex
From the Essex County Standard
FIVE people have been sentenced for their parts in a feud between travelling families which ended with two young children being kidnapped.
A court heard a boy aged four and his two-year-old sister had disappeared with their mother when she split up with her partner two months earlier.
Kerry Anne Mitchell was living with her children in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, when they were snatched by her former partner Albert Buckley Junior – known as Quincy.
He was in a car with Kerry Anne’s boyfriend Tom Johnson and other Buckley relatives when the incident took place at around 12.30am on 26 March last year.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard Kerry Anne, 20, called her mother in Maldon and police stopped the Vauxhall Astra later, near junction 9 on the M11.
That same night Quincy’s brother Shane Buckley, 23, forrmerly of Rayne Road, Felsted, and now of Woodham Road, Stow Maries, allegedly armed himself with an axe and went to Kerry Anne’s aunt’s house in Cold Norton.
He demanded Kerry Anne’s uncle, Anthony Loveridge, come outside to sort things out but went away when he was ignored.
At 6am he and other Buckleys descended on aunt Susan Barton’s house in Clark’s Rise, Cold Norton and Shane Buckley kicked open the front door and property inside was damaged by various individuals, the court heard.
Shane Buckley denied he had turned up with an axe, but giving evidence Susan Barton, 34, said she talked to him from her bedroom window and saw what he was holding.
She said: “He was swinging what I later realised was an axe. I could see the sparks flying as it hit the concrete path.”
She agreed a feud had developed between the families over custody of the two children and because the Buckleys thought Kerry Anne’s family knew where she was hiding.
The trial on kidnap and perverting justice for all ten people involved was expected to last four weeks but at the start of the case, Albert Buckley junior, 25, of Woodham Road, Chelmsford, and Tom Johnson, 19, of Cranham Hall caravan site, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, both changed their pleas to guilty to kidnap.
Buckley junior and Johnson were both jailed for nine months. Johnson received another two months consecutive for breaking a community order.
Quincy’s sister Linda Buckley, 33, of Rayne Road, Felsted, his cousin Mark Lee, 22, of Cranham Hall caravan site, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, and a 15-year-old pleaded not guilty. The adults indicated they would accept a restraining order.
The prosecution offered no evidence against all three and, on the judge’s direction, the jury returned not guilty verdicts.
The parents of Albert Buckley junior, Albert Buckley senior, 60, and Anne Loveridge, 54, both of Rockhampton Walk, Colchester, and his brothers Shane and David, 33, of Longbanks, Harlow, and sister Sylvia Buckley, 36, of Rockhampton Walk, had denied perverting the course of justice by threatening to use violence against Kerry Anne Mitchell and members of her family.
The charge had alleged violence would be used unless she withdraw her evidence against those arrested for the kidnap.
The prosecution offered an alternative charge of affray, threatening violence towards Susan Barton and Roseanne Barton junior, 42.
Shane Buckley pleaded guilty, David and Sylvia Buckley pleaded not guilty but admitted a lesser offence of threatening behaviour.
Shane Buckley was jailed for eight months suspended for two years and given a 200 hour unpaid work order plus £500 costs.
David Buckley was jailed for three months but has been on a qualifying tagged curfew so will not be jailed and told to pay £500 costs.
Sylvia Buckley got a two-year community order, a 100-hour unpaid work order, 12 months supervision plus £500 costs.
The prosecution dropped its case against all five on perverting justice and all were formally acquitted by the jury.
Judge Charles Gratwicke made a restraining order for the next five years against Linda Buckley, Anne Loveridge, Albert Buckley senior and Mark Lee not to contact Kerry Anne Mitchell, her mother, grandmother Roseanne Barton senior, 61, of St Peter’s Avenue, Maldon or aunt except for contact arrangements through the family court in relation to the two children.
FIVE people have been sentenced for their parts in a feud between travelling families which ended with two young children being kidnapped.
A court heard a boy aged four and his two-year-old sister had disappeared with their mother when she split up with her partner two months earlier.
Kerry Anne Mitchell was living with her children in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, when they were snatched by her former partner Albert Buckley Junior – known as Quincy.
He was in a car with Kerry Anne’s boyfriend Tom Johnson and other Buckley relatives when the incident took place at around 12.30am on 26 March last year.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard Kerry Anne, 20, called her mother in Maldon and police stopped the Vauxhall Astra later, near junction 9 on the M11.
That same night Quincy’s brother Shane Buckley, 23, forrmerly of Rayne Road, Felsted, and now of Woodham Road, Stow Maries, allegedly armed himself with an axe and went to Kerry Anne’s aunt’s house in Cold Norton.
He demanded Kerry Anne’s uncle, Anthony Loveridge, come outside to sort things out but went away when he was ignored.
At 6am he and other Buckleys descended on aunt Susan Barton’s house in Clark’s Rise, Cold Norton and Shane Buckley kicked open the front door and property inside was damaged by various individuals, the court heard.
Shane Buckley denied he had turned up with an axe, but giving evidence Susan Barton, 34, said she talked to him from her bedroom window and saw what he was holding.
She said: “He was swinging what I later realised was an axe. I could see the sparks flying as it hit the concrete path.”
She agreed a feud had developed between the families over custody of the two children and because the Buckleys thought Kerry Anne’s family knew where she was hiding.
The trial on kidnap and perverting justice for all ten people involved was expected to last four weeks but at the start of the case, Albert Buckley junior, 25, of Woodham Road, Chelmsford, and Tom Johnson, 19, of Cranham Hall caravan site, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, both changed their pleas to guilty to kidnap.
Buckley junior and Johnson were both jailed for nine months. Johnson received another two months consecutive for breaking a community order.
Quincy’s sister Linda Buckley, 33, of Rayne Road, Felsted, his cousin Mark Lee, 22, of Cranham Hall caravan site, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, and a 15-year-old pleaded not guilty. The adults indicated they would accept a restraining order.
The prosecution offered no evidence against all three and, on the judge’s direction, the jury returned not guilty verdicts.
The parents of Albert Buckley junior, Albert Buckley senior, 60, and Anne Loveridge, 54, both of Rockhampton Walk, Colchester, and his brothers Shane and David, 33, of Longbanks, Harlow, and sister Sylvia Buckley, 36, of Rockhampton Walk, had denied perverting the course of justice by threatening to use violence against Kerry Anne Mitchell and members of her family.
The charge had alleged violence would be used unless she withdraw her evidence against those arrested for the kidnap.
The prosecution offered an alternative charge of affray, threatening violence towards Susan Barton and Roseanne Barton junior, 42.
Shane Buckley pleaded guilty, David and Sylvia Buckley pleaded not guilty but admitted a lesser offence of threatening behaviour.
Shane Buckley was jailed for eight months suspended for two years and given a 200 hour unpaid work order plus £500 costs.
David Buckley was jailed for three months but has been on a qualifying tagged curfew so will not be jailed and told to pay £500 costs.
Sylvia Buckley got a two-year community order, a 100-hour unpaid work order, 12 months supervision plus £500 costs.
The prosecution dropped its case against all five on perverting justice and all were formally acquitted by the jury.
Judge Charles Gratwicke made a restraining order for the next five years against Linda Buckley, Anne Loveridge, Albert Buckley senior and Mark Lee not to contact Kerry Anne Mitchell, her mother, grandmother Roseanne Barton senior, 61, of St Peter’s Avenue, Maldon or aunt except for contact arrangements through the family court in relation to the two children.
Racism towards Travellers hangs in the air in Ireland
From the Irish Times
The State’s failure to recognise the ethnic identity of Travellers is a denial of equal status with others
IN DUBLIN Castle today, at a conference called “Ethnicity and Travellers: an Exploration” being run by the Department of Justice and Equality, the “experts” are at it again – the settled academics, that is.
They will explain and conceptualise ideas about my Traveller identity. Catherine Joyce and Brigid Quilligan, Pavee beoirs (Traveller women), will bring authenticity to the discussion, making real the notion of self-determination.
Personally, ethnicity can only be described in relation to the tangibility of friendship. Often it’s the direct opposite of the abstract language used to describe ethnicity and identity politics.
I have a friend called Katherine, who is a settled woman, and when she came into my life, from the get-go my statement was: “You’re settled. I’m a Traveller. In our country you belong, you’re counted. I’m the nuisance that they don’t know what to do with.”
There have been unsettling moments in our friendship relating to how Traveller identity is perceived and how wilfully ethnocentric Irish society is. Racism towards Travellers hangs in the air between us. It is an often covert racism, an undermining racism, a difficult racism to challenge or articulate. Being friends with me, the buoyancy of Katherine’s position as a settled person gets unbalanced whenever the malignant tides rise intensely against Travellers. Identity is something that can’t be escaped. We’re all grounded in who we are – our tradition, culture and heritage.
Katherine has never wavered into that space of ambiguity where reasonable, kind-hearted settled friends often say “but” and “if”, wanting Travellers to behave more “responsibly” even when they are being hated.
There’s a place for the rights mantra and responsibility mantra – on both sides. There’s a constant realisation that we’re both evolving, developing and stretching the possibilities of what it means to be Irish women, each with our own identities. My mother had settled friends. She paid them “visits”. That’s how she described her connection with them.
The separation of the State from the Catholic Church, the State recognition of the damage done to children in institutional care, decriminalising homosexuality, legislating for divorce and civil partnership, and now the children’s rights referendum – all of these are milestones of progressive change.
But the burning issue of Traveller ethnicity is unresolved.
In Britain, the ethnicity of Irish Travellers has been law since the case of O’Leary and Others v Punch Retail in 2000. In Northern Ireland, since 1997, Travellers have been classified as a “racial group” for the purposes of the Race Relations Order. And the world hasn’t stopped turning.
These pieces of legislation admit Traveller ethnicity is a status equal to that of settled Irish ethnicity. Discrimination towards Travellers in Britain and Northern Ireland hasn’t gone away, but younger Irish Travellers there have a stronger sense of pride and self-esteem.
Across the Border and across the Irish Sea, recognising Traveller ethnicity has had an impact. Travellers there have the opportunity to be treated with a new respect and accorded a more equal status in engaging with the state. The relationship shifts to a treatment that takes account of and respects cultural difference.
There’s a symbolic value too – my identity, my history, my culture are still not validated. The 2010 All Ireland Traveller Health Study: Our Geels revealed a strong self-identification among our people. Membership of the Traveller community was important for 71 per cent; Traveller culture for 73 per cent; and Traveller identity for 74 per cent.
Yet the State will not recognise this identity and afford us the status that would go with such recognition.
Friendship with Katherine is unlike that unequal relationship my mother had with settled women, where even to those she paid visits to she was still the subservient beggar at the door.
When Katherine talks about her days in school, the conversation is about expectation and entitlement. Ambition and opportunity are also built into the fabric of her memory.
The dialogue becomes fragile when I speak about my people being brought to special school where we were humiliated by being washed and ridiculed. Believing I wasn’t worthy of an education, they relegated our ethnicity to the dirty corner and the special class.
Katherine’s and my social, cultural, political and personal histories are so different. We share a national identity but there are so many intricate, nuanced differences in how we are prescribed a role in Irish society. Being born into settled privilege gives her more status, more respect, more opportunity.
However, we’re part of a small cultural revolution of friendship that allows us as women to talk about the diversity that we hold. Ironically, it also opens up a chasm of silence and shame as we mutually recognise how Traveller ethnicity has been disrespected, ignored and devalued.
Perhaps such connections and alliances, such sisterhood will form the seedbeds to bring, at last, more radical lasting change whereby Traveller ethnic identity achieves recognition, protection and respect.
The State’s failure to recognise the ethnic identity of Travellers is a denial of equal status with others
IN DUBLIN Castle today, at a conference called “Ethnicity and Travellers: an Exploration” being run by the Department of Justice and Equality, the “experts” are at it again – the settled academics, that is.
They will explain and conceptualise ideas about my Traveller identity. Catherine Joyce and Brigid Quilligan, Pavee beoirs (Traveller women), will bring authenticity to the discussion, making real the notion of self-determination.
Personally, ethnicity can only be described in relation to the tangibility of friendship. Often it’s the direct opposite of the abstract language used to describe ethnicity and identity politics.
I have a friend called Katherine, who is a settled woman, and when she came into my life, from the get-go my statement was: “You’re settled. I’m a Traveller. In our country you belong, you’re counted. I’m the nuisance that they don’t know what to do with.”
There have been unsettling moments in our friendship relating to how Traveller identity is perceived and how wilfully ethnocentric Irish society is. Racism towards Travellers hangs in the air between us. It is an often covert racism, an undermining racism, a difficult racism to challenge or articulate. Being friends with me, the buoyancy of Katherine’s position as a settled person gets unbalanced whenever the malignant tides rise intensely against Travellers. Identity is something that can’t be escaped. We’re all grounded in who we are – our tradition, culture and heritage.
Katherine has never wavered into that space of ambiguity where reasonable, kind-hearted settled friends often say “but” and “if”, wanting Travellers to behave more “responsibly” even when they are being hated.
There’s a place for the rights mantra and responsibility mantra – on both sides. There’s a constant realisation that we’re both evolving, developing and stretching the possibilities of what it means to be Irish women, each with our own identities. My mother had settled friends. She paid them “visits”. That’s how she described her connection with them.
The separation of the State from the Catholic Church, the State recognition of the damage done to children in institutional care, decriminalising homosexuality, legislating for divorce and civil partnership, and now the children’s rights referendum – all of these are milestones of progressive change.
But the burning issue of Traveller ethnicity is unresolved.
In Britain, the ethnicity of Irish Travellers has been law since the case of O’Leary and Others v Punch Retail in 2000. In Northern Ireland, since 1997, Travellers have been classified as a “racial group” for the purposes of the Race Relations Order. And the world hasn’t stopped turning.
These pieces of legislation admit Traveller ethnicity is a status equal to that of settled Irish ethnicity. Discrimination towards Travellers in Britain and Northern Ireland hasn’t gone away, but younger Irish Travellers there have a stronger sense of pride and self-esteem.
Across the Border and across the Irish Sea, recognising Traveller ethnicity has had an impact. Travellers there have the opportunity to be treated with a new respect and accorded a more equal status in engaging with the state. The relationship shifts to a treatment that takes account of and respects cultural difference.
There’s a symbolic value too – my identity, my history, my culture are still not validated. The 2010 All Ireland Traveller Health Study: Our Geels revealed a strong self-identification among our people. Membership of the Traveller community was important for 71 per cent; Traveller culture for 73 per cent; and Traveller identity for 74 per cent.
Yet the State will not recognise this identity and afford us the status that would go with such recognition.
Friendship with Katherine is unlike that unequal relationship my mother had with settled women, where even to those she paid visits to she was still the subservient beggar at the door.
When Katherine talks about her days in school, the conversation is about expectation and entitlement. Ambition and opportunity are also built into the fabric of her memory.
The dialogue becomes fragile when I speak about my people being brought to special school where we were humiliated by being washed and ridiculed. Believing I wasn’t worthy of an education, they relegated our ethnicity to the dirty corner and the special class.
Katherine’s and my social, cultural, political and personal histories are so different. We share a national identity but there are so many intricate, nuanced differences in how we are prescribed a role in Irish society. Being born into settled privilege gives her more status, more respect, more opportunity.
However, we’re part of a small cultural revolution of friendship that allows us as women to talk about the diversity that we hold. Ironically, it also opens up a chasm of silence and shame as we mutually recognise how Traveller ethnicity has been disrespected, ignored and devalued.
Perhaps such connections and alliances, such sisterhood will form the seedbeds to bring, at last, more radical lasting change whereby Traveller ethnic identity achieves recognition, protection and respect.
Continued headache for Sussex authorities as travellers keep cropping up - Sussex
From Brighton Lite
A THORN in the side for town officials, the age-old predicament of what to do with the Travellers in Brighton and Hove keeps on rearing its ugly head.
This summer we have seen Travellers set up camp in some of the most picturesque settings in the city; on Hove seafront, Waterhall playing fields near Devils Dyke and they have been prolific in the Peacehaven and Telscombe area.
It is not just in Brighton and Hove though that they have cause problems, cropping up in Mid Sussex too as they have proved prevalent in Cuckfield, Burgess Hill and Hurstpierpoint, among other areas.
Problems have been posed by the travelling community that show it is more than just Nimbyism that puts fear into residents when they emerge nearby. In Burgess Hill there were a series of harrowing incidents set upon those living near newly-surfaced sites.
Residents were aggrieved to have lost pets because of appalling behaviour from a select few who disgraced the travelling community. Dangerous dogs were set upon cats with malicious intent, all animals attacked suffered serious injuries, had to be put down or are missing presumed dead.
Police continue to serve Section 61 notices that force Travellers to move from land as camps persist on moving elsewhere and prove to be a headache for authorities in different places.
District councillors have called for tougher powers to be introduced to clamp down on travellers setting up camp as they please. Speaking to the Mid Sussex Times, Councillor Anne Jones said: “They’re costing us a fortune. I’m really fed up because they can’t do this sort of this in Ireland and they can’t do it in France.
“Why can they do it in the UK? The public don’t seem to have rights on this matter.
“This has got to change. We get squeezed on council tax and have to spend a lot of money getting Travellers moved on.
“I want people to write to their MP to get the law changed so something can be done quicker to move these people on.”
The most recent public outcry came when Travellers at Waterhall playing fields outline their intent for a lengthy stay when a permanent greenhouse structure was erected on the site that accommodates 14 lived-in dwellings and 14 other lodging vans.
A THORN in the side for town officials, the age-old predicament of what to do with the Travellers in Brighton and Hove keeps on rearing its ugly head.
This summer we have seen Travellers set up camp in some of the most picturesque settings in the city; on Hove seafront, Waterhall playing fields near Devils Dyke and they have been prolific in the Peacehaven and Telscombe area.
It is not just in Brighton and Hove though that they have cause problems, cropping up in Mid Sussex too as they have proved prevalent in Cuckfield, Burgess Hill and Hurstpierpoint, among other areas.
Problems have been posed by the travelling community that show it is more than just Nimbyism that puts fear into residents when they emerge nearby. In Burgess Hill there were a series of harrowing incidents set upon those living near newly-surfaced sites.
Residents were aggrieved to have lost pets because of appalling behaviour from a select few who disgraced the travelling community. Dangerous dogs were set upon cats with malicious intent, all animals attacked suffered serious injuries, had to be put down or are missing presumed dead.
Police continue to serve Section 61 notices that force Travellers to move from land as camps persist on moving elsewhere and prove to be a headache for authorities in different places.
District councillors have called for tougher powers to be introduced to clamp down on travellers setting up camp as they please. Speaking to the Mid Sussex Times, Councillor Anne Jones said: “They’re costing us a fortune. I’m really fed up because they can’t do this sort of this in Ireland and they can’t do it in France.
“Why can they do it in the UK? The public don’t seem to have rights on this matter.
“This has got to change. We get squeezed on council tax and have to spend a lot of money getting Travellers moved on.
“I want people to write to their MP to get the law changed so something can be done quicker to move these people on.”
The most recent public outcry came when Travellers at Waterhall playing fields outline their intent for a lengthy stay when a permanent greenhouse structure was erected on the site that accommodates 14 lived-in dwellings and 14 other lodging vans.
Field at Kerswell Green, Kempsey, near Worcester, empty after Travellers leave
From the Worcester News
LAND occupied for just under two weeks by a group of Travellers was empty again this morning.
The entrance to the area of common land at Kerswell Green, Kempsey, near Worcester, is after the recent rain now muddy and deeply rutted by vehicle tracks.
The field is littered by plastic bags, broken toys and other rubbish. Parts of a child's trampoline and plastic bin bags have been dumped in a ditch at the edge of the site. However, the mess is not nearly as bad as that left on other sites in the Worcester area on occasions over the last year or so.
A court order had been made on Tuesday ordering the five families and 10 caravans to quit the field, which is owned by Kempsey Parish Council.
The Travellers had always made it clear that they would leave when legally required to do so.
LAND occupied for just under two weeks by a group of Travellers was empty again this morning.
The entrance to the area of common land at Kerswell Green, Kempsey, near Worcester, is after the recent rain now muddy and deeply rutted by vehicle tracks.
The field is littered by plastic bags, broken toys and other rubbish. Parts of a child's trampoline and plastic bin bags have been dumped in a ditch at the edge of the site. However, the mess is not nearly as bad as that left on other sites in the Worcester area on occasions over the last year or so.
A court order had been made on Tuesday ordering the five families and 10 caravans to quit the field, which is owned by Kempsey Parish Council.
The Travellers had always made it clear that they would leave when legally required to do so.
Travellers' caravans 'deterring shoppers'- Bristol
From the Bristol Post
BUSINESSES have called for a barrier to be installed at a Filton car park after Travellers set up camp there.
Aaron Naughton, chairman of the Filton Chamber of Trade, says they are blocking spaces and putting off shoppers – and has requested urgent action from South Gloucestershire Council.
In correspondence seen by the Post, council officials tell him they are planning meetings to discuss a height restriction barrier at the Gloucester Road North car park, which would prevent caravans from entering.
Four caravans were in the car park yesterday, covering several bays in contravention of signs which say parking is restricted to 12 hours at the site.
Mr Naughton said the caravans were putting shoppers off using the car park for the nearby centre, where three shops have closed in the past few months.
Mr Naughton said: "We have had many issues with Travellers using our 12-hour stay car park as their new campsite.
"When the Travellers first started using it, it wasn't much of a problem but their presence became more and more increased, taking over a large amount of space.
"This not only violated the rules of the car park, which any other citizen would be clamped for, but also started driving businesses away from the Filton area, which has become detrimental to sustaining a strong community."
Mr Naughton said three shops – The Schoolwear Shop, Quality Carpets and Good Viewing – had recently left the area due to a slump in trade.
He said: "People in the area are scared and uncomfortable of leaving their vehicles in the car park, which is extremely unfair.
"This has become a recurring problem within the past year, and since then three well-known local businesses have closed on this street and there are rumours of another going.
"I obviously cannot prove it is this issue which has caused businesses to shut down, but I am most certain it would have made a contribution, which is something we cannot afford to have happen in the Filton area."
Council officials told Filton Chamber of Trade that inspectors have regularly ejected illegal caravans but agreed that a barrier was needed.
BUSINESSES have called for a barrier to be installed at a Filton car park after Travellers set up camp there.
Aaron Naughton, chairman of the Filton Chamber of Trade, says they are blocking spaces and putting off shoppers – and has requested urgent action from South Gloucestershire Council.
In correspondence seen by the Post, council officials tell him they are planning meetings to discuss a height restriction barrier at the Gloucester Road North car park, which would prevent caravans from entering.
Four caravans were in the car park yesterday, covering several bays in contravention of signs which say parking is restricted to 12 hours at the site.
Mr Naughton said the caravans were putting shoppers off using the car park for the nearby centre, where three shops have closed in the past few months.
Mr Naughton said: "We have had many issues with Travellers using our 12-hour stay car park as their new campsite.
"When the Travellers first started using it, it wasn't much of a problem but their presence became more and more increased, taking over a large amount of space.
"This not only violated the rules of the car park, which any other citizen would be clamped for, but also started driving businesses away from the Filton area, which has become detrimental to sustaining a strong community."
Mr Naughton said three shops – The Schoolwear Shop, Quality Carpets and Good Viewing – had recently left the area due to a slump in trade.
He said: "People in the area are scared and uncomfortable of leaving their vehicles in the car park, which is extremely unfair.
"This has become a recurring problem within the past year, and since then three well-known local businesses have closed on this street and there are rumours of another going.
"I obviously cannot prove it is this issue which has caused businesses to shut down, but I am most certain it would have made a contribution, which is something we cannot afford to have happen in the Filton area."
Council officials told Filton Chamber of Trade that inspectors have regularly ejected illegal caravans but agreed that a barrier was needed.
Wednesday 26 September 2012
Killing the way of life - Ireland
From the Village
A national accommodation strategy for Travellers was developed, following the enactment of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, for implementation by 2000. This strategy was seen by Travellers as a step towards recognition of their cultural needs and, most importantly, as a step away from past policies of assimilation to become settled people.
The 1998 Housing Act provided for establishment of the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee to advise the Minister. Local versions were set up to advise local authorities. Each local authority was to develop a five year Traveller Accommodation Plan which would meet the cultural needs of Travellers in their areas. This would include provision of transient sites to allow for the nomadic culture of Travellers and of halting site bays and group-housing schemes comprising not only the dwelling unit but also facilities to cater for their culture such as horse-keeping, the Traveller economy and nomadism.
At the time there was a commitment to the provision of 3600 units of Traveller-specific accommodation, including 1000 transient bays. But in fact the total number of new permanent units built from 2000 to 2011 was 849, with only 47 transient bays which are often not used as such but rather as emergency accommodation for Travellers. Since the inception of the national accommodation strategy the population of Travellers has grown, rendering the commitments deficient anyway.
We know from the annual count of Travellers compiled by the Traveller Accommodation Unit of the Department Environment, Community and Local government that there were 5150 families in 2001 but this had increased to 9535 families by 2011. There are currently 327 families on the roadside and 492 families sharing with other families.
Local authorities develop plans to accommodate Travellers on the basis of consultation methods that could be viewed as bad practice. They have continuously failed to meet their own targets and what happens? Nothing. They are allowed to develop a new plan in the next phase of the strategy, while Travellers continue to live in Third World conditions.
In recent times what really scares me is that Traveller-specific accommodation seems to be being phased out. Halting sites across the country are being closed down and nomadic facilities are still not being provided. Standard housing and private-rented accommodation are the accommodation options being provided. The accommodation we really want is not being provided, so we settle for what we can actually get.
One Traveller woman summed it up very well recently at a consultation with the Irish Traveller Movement: “Councils take us away from Traveller sites by putting us into group housing schemes as training for standard housing, trying to wash the Traveller out of us, train us to be settled people, so we are ready for standard housing, But this will never happen, If I could travel like I used to I would, and I know lots of Travellers are the same”.
In 2001 there were 293 families in private-rented accommodation and in 2011 there were 2595 families. These figures may look very positive as at times we face discrimination when trying to access the private-rented sector. But for me as a Traveller these figures are very frightening.
Travellers want culturally-appropriate accommodation yet we are being placed in private-rented accommodation. This is not meeting our permanent accommodation needs and, most importantly, not meeting our cultural needs. Young Travellers in particular are being placed in private-rented accommodation. They are often isolated from their families, taken away from their culture and Traveller identity.
Older Travellers fear that their families are being stripped of their identity and that their children are being forced to be settled people and to feel ashamed of who they are. In private-rented accommodation Travellers can’t be nomadic, can’t be themselves.
So I ask you, is this the answer to accommodating Travellers? How can we continue to be Travellers within this sector? This is not the answer. I am calling on the Irish State to recognise us as the Irish ethnic minority group that we are. I am calling for the Traveller Accommodation agency that was recommended. This would oversee the implementation of the national Traveller accommodation strategy and ensure the cultural needs of Travellers are met.
I am proud to be a Traveller and like most Travellers I will not rest until our ethnicity is recognised and provided for. It is in the interests of everyone – the Irish state, Irish settled people, new communities and Irish Travellers – that our cultural needs are finally met.
Rose Marie Maughan is Accommodation Officer with the Irish Traveller Movement
A national accommodation strategy for Travellers was developed, following the enactment of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, for implementation by 2000. This strategy was seen by Travellers as a step towards recognition of their cultural needs and, most importantly, as a step away from past policies of assimilation to become settled people.
The 1998 Housing Act provided for establishment of the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee to advise the Minister. Local versions were set up to advise local authorities. Each local authority was to develop a five year Traveller Accommodation Plan which would meet the cultural needs of Travellers in their areas. This would include provision of transient sites to allow for the nomadic culture of Travellers and of halting site bays and group-housing schemes comprising not only the dwelling unit but also facilities to cater for their culture such as horse-keeping, the Traveller economy and nomadism.
At the time there was a commitment to the provision of 3600 units of Traveller-specific accommodation, including 1000 transient bays. But in fact the total number of new permanent units built from 2000 to 2011 was 849, with only 47 transient bays which are often not used as such but rather as emergency accommodation for Travellers. Since the inception of the national accommodation strategy the population of Travellers has grown, rendering the commitments deficient anyway.
We know from the annual count of Travellers compiled by the Traveller Accommodation Unit of the Department Environment, Community and Local government that there were 5150 families in 2001 but this had increased to 9535 families by 2011. There are currently 327 families on the roadside and 492 families sharing with other families.
Local authorities develop plans to accommodate Travellers on the basis of consultation methods that could be viewed as bad practice. They have continuously failed to meet their own targets and what happens? Nothing. They are allowed to develop a new plan in the next phase of the strategy, while Travellers continue to live in Third World conditions.
In recent times what really scares me is that Traveller-specific accommodation seems to be being phased out. Halting sites across the country are being closed down and nomadic facilities are still not being provided. Standard housing and private-rented accommodation are the accommodation options being provided. The accommodation we really want is not being provided, so we settle for what we can actually get.
One Traveller woman summed it up very well recently at a consultation with the Irish Traveller Movement: “Councils take us away from Traveller sites by putting us into group housing schemes as training for standard housing, trying to wash the Traveller out of us, train us to be settled people, so we are ready for standard housing, But this will never happen, If I could travel like I used to I would, and I know lots of Travellers are the same”.
In 2001 there were 293 families in private-rented accommodation and in 2011 there were 2595 families. These figures may look very positive as at times we face discrimination when trying to access the private-rented sector. But for me as a Traveller these figures are very frightening.
Travellers want culturally-appropriate accommodation yet we are being placed in private-rented accommodation. This is not meeting our permanent accommodation needs and, most importantly, not meeting our cultural needs. Young Travellers in particular are being placed in private-rented accommodation. They are often isolated from their families, taken away from their culture and Traveller identity.
Older Travellers fear that their families are being stripped of their identity and that their children are being forced to be settled people and to feel ashamed of who they are. In private-rented accommodation Travellers can’t be nomadic, can’t be themselves.
So I ask you, is this the answer to accommodating Travellers? How can we continue to be Travellers within this sector? This is not the answer. I am calling on the Irish State to recognise us as the Irish ethnic minority group that we are. I am calling for the Traveller Accommodation agency that was recommended. This would oversee the implementation of the national Traveller accommodation strategy and ensure the cultural needs of Travellers are met.
I am proud to be a Traveller and like most Travellers I will not rest until our ethnicity is recognised and provided for. It is in the interests of everyone – the Irish state, Irish settled people, new communities and Irish Travellers – that our cultural needs are finally met.
Rose Marie Maughan is Accommodation Officer with the Irish Traveller Movement
Travellers at Dale Farm Offered Housing Before Clear Out Deadline - Essex
From Visit Basildon
Travellers living illegally along the roadside near Dale Farm will continue to be offered housing by Basildon Borough Council, despite a clear refusal to live in bricks-and-mortar accommodation.
Nineteen caravans parked on the road leading to Dale Farm were served enforcement notices by the council at the end of July.
An application by traveller representatives to a Government planning inspector to appeal the notices failed because they could not show Traveller ownership of the land or a right to be there.
They have until Saturday to leave the road in Crays Hill.
The planning inspector's decision paves the way for more enforcement action, but council leader Tony Ball admits that could be "some months" away as the council looks to fulfil its temporary accommodation "duty" to the Travellers.
The Gazette can reveal the authority made 38 offers of bricks-and-mortar accommodation to travellers at Dale Farm prior to last October's eviction, but none were accepted.
No more offers of housing have been made since November.
Mr Ball insists the council must offer brick homes to Travellers in need, but said their engagement with the council in supplying the necessary information had been "poor".
"We need to find out who is there, their housing needs and their personal circumstances. We have a duty to protect the vulnerable," said Mr Ball.
"The information we have is it's still a varying amount of caravans along the road, it changes daily if not weekly, it's different people who come and go."
Enforcement options available to the council include direct action by bringing in bailiffs and the use of court injunctions.
Mr Ball said the authority has not yet decided upon which course of action to pursue.
"It's not going to be ten years like Dale Farm, but it could be – because the Travellers can appeal – still some months.
"Then we could be in the hands of the courts," said Mr Ball.
The Environment Agency has been carrying out contamination tests at Dale Farm to look for pollutants such as asbestos, which Traveller campaigners claim was unearthed during the £7.2 million site clearance.
The agency is due to publish a report in October.
Traveller campaigner Stuart Carruthers said the next course of action is one of discourse with the council.
"We're looking to talk to the council over what to do," he said. "There is nowhere to put the Travellers at the moment."
"We're waiting on the Environment Agency report, which I think is going to be the most important part of it.
"I can't see an eviction happening immediately. What we're trying to do is come to a solution with the council, otherwise we get faced with the same problem as last time."
Quotes from Thisistotalessex
Travellers living illegally along the roadside near Dale Farm will continue to be offered housing by Basildon Borough Council, despite a clear refusal to live in bricks-and-mortar accommodation.
Nineteen caravans parked on the road leading to Dale Farm were served enforcement notices by the council at the end of July.
An application by traveller representatives to a Government planning inspector to appeal the notices failed because they could not show Traveller ownership of the land or a right to be there.
They have until Saturday to leave the road in Crays Hill.
The planning inspector's decision paves the way for more enforcement action, but council leader Tony Ball admits that could be "some months" away as the council looks to fulfil its temporary accommodation "duty" to the Travellers.
The Gazette can reveal the authority made 38 offers of bricks-and-mortar accommodation to travellers at Dale Farm prior to last October's eviction, but none were accepted.
No more offers of housing have been made since November.
Mr Ball insists the council must offer brick homes to Travellers in need, but said their engagement with the council in supplying the necessary information had been "poor".
"We need to find out who is there, their housing needs and their personal circumstances. We have a duty to protect the vulnerable," said Mr Ball.
"The information we have is it's still a varying amount of caravans along the road, it changes daily if not weekly, it's different people who come and go."
Enforcement options available to the council include direct action by bringing in bailiffs and the use of court injunctions.
Mr Ball said the authority has not yet decided upon which course of action to pursue.
"It's not going to be ten years like Dale Farm, but it could be – because the Travellers can appeal – still some months.
"Then we could be in the hands of the courts," said Mr Ball.
The Environment Agency has been carrying out contamination tests at Dale Farm to look for pollutants such as asbestos, which Traveller campaigners claim was unearthed during the £7.2 million site clearance.
The agency is due to publish a report in October.
Traveller campaigner Stuart Carruthers said the next course of action is one of discourse with the council.
"We're looking to talk to the council over what to do," he said. "There is nowhere to put the Travellers at the moment."
"We're waiting on the Environment Agency report, which I think is going to be the most important part of it.
"I can't see an eviction happening immediately. What we're trying to do is come to a solution with the council, otherwise we get faced with the same problem as last time."
Quotes from Thisistotalessex
Hogan hangs up on radio station as he is urged to explain Traveller letter - Ireland
From the journal.ie
ENVIRONMENT MINISTER PHIL Hogan is under pressure after it emerged that he wrote to some of his constituents to assure them that a Traveller family would not be moving into their area.
The Irish Daily Mail and Irish Independent reported this morning that Hogan’s office wrote to residents of Bonnettstown in Kilkenny to inform them that the McCarthy family, who are Travellers, would not be allocated a house in the area.
Fianna Fáil has described the revelations as a “very serious issue” that could be illegal under equality legislation and the housing act. It has called for the Minister to make a full statement on the matter today.
A spokesperson for the Department of Environment said that there were no plans for the Minister to make a statement at this point and noted that it was a constituency matter.
It is understood that Hogan intervened in the matter after receiving representations regarding a dispute between two families in the area in the past. He was told that the McCarthy’s should not be housed in a place “where there was a potential for conflict”, the Mail reports.
In an interview on KCLR 96fm radio this morning Hogan defended his actions saying that he passed on these concerns to the local housing authorities “in good faith” and “without any direction from me or heavy-handedness”.
He told The Sue Nunn Show: “I’ve explained my position quite well, I am at the Ploughing Championships now and I have engagements here so thank you for giving me the opportunity to clarify my position.”
He then hung up as the presenter sought to question him further on the matter.
Listen: Phil Hogan hangs up on The Sue Nunn Show on KCLR (mp3) >
Later, speaking to reporters at the Ploughing Championships he said that he did not agree with the Fianna Fáil assertion that it was an abuse of power and racist. “I got information from my constituency office and I passed that on to the local authority,” he told reporters.
‘Damage’
In a statement, Fianna Fáil’s communities spokesperson, Éamon Ó CuÃv: “The Minister needs to come forward immediately and explain why he allowed a letter of this nature to be sent in his name and with his authority.
“Enormous work has been done over the last decade to reach out to the travelling community to improve their living standards and improve relations with settled communities.
“A public representative in a position of national leadership taking the sort of action suggested in this correspondence would do enormous damage to that process.”
Later speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, Ó CuÃv said that Hogan needed to explain on what basis he passed the information to the local authority said that the Minister needed to have evidence of the allegations that he passed on.
Earlier in the Dáil, Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald attempted to raise the matter during the Order of Business but was cut short by Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett.
She said: “Minister Hogan needs to be informed that discrimination is unlawful including discrimination against members of the Travelling community.
“I want to ask, Ceann Comhairle, the Taoiseach that the Minister will come before the Dáil and make a statement on this matter. It’s a headline, banner news story, in a national newspaper.”
But as he cut her short, the Ceann Comhairle responded: “This is not a matter for the Order of Business.”
ENVIRONMENT MINISTER PHIL Hogan is under pressure after it emerged that he wrote to some of his constituents to assure them that a Traveller family would not be moving into their area.
The Irish Daily Mail and Irish Independent reported this morning that Hogan’s office wrote to residents of Bonnettstown in Kilkenny to inform them that the McCarthy family, who are Travellers, would not be allocated a house in the area.
Fianna Fáil has described the revelations as a “very serious issue” that could be illegal under equality legislation and the housing act. It has called for the Minister to make a full statement on the matter today.
A spokesperson for the Department of Environment said that there were no plans for the Minister to make a statement at this point and noted that it was a constituency matter.
It is understood that Hogan intervened in the matter after receiving representations regarding a dispute between two families in the area in the past. He was told that the McCarthy’s should not be housed in a place “where there was a potential for conflict”, the Mail reports.
In an interview on KCLR 96fm radio this morning Hogan defended his actions saying that he passed on these concerns to the local housing authorities “in good faith” and “without any direction from me or heavy-handedness”.
He told The Sue Nunn Show: “I’ve explained my position quite well, I am at the Ploughing Championships now and I have engagements here so thank you for giving me the opportunity to clarify my position.”
He then hung up as the presenter sought to question him further on the matter.
Listen: Phil Hogan hangs up on The Sue Nunn Show on KCLR (mp3) >
Later, speaking to reporters at the Ploughing Championships he said that he did not agree with the Fianna Fáil assertion that it was an abuse of power and racist. “I got information from my constituency office and I passed that on to the local authority,” he told reporters.
‘Damage’
In a statement, Fianna Fáil’s communities spokesperson, Éamon Ó CuÃv: “The Minister needs to come forward immediately and explain why he allowed a letter of this nature to be sent in his name and with his authority.
“Enormous work has been done over the last decade to reach out to the travelling community to improve their living standards and improve relations with settled communities.
“A public representative in a position of national leadership taking the sort of action suggested in this correspondence would do enormous damage to that process.”
Later speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, Ó CuÃv said that Hogan needed to explain on what basis he passed the information to the local authority said that the Minister needed to have evidence of the allegations that he passed on.
Earlier in the Dáil, Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald attempted to raise the matter during the Order of Business but was cut short by Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett.
She said: “Minister Hogan needs to be informed that discrimination is unlawful including discrimination against members of the Travelling community.
“I want to ask, Ceann Comhairle, the Taoiseach that the Minister will come before the Dáil and make a statement on this matter. It’s a headline, banner news story, in a national newspaper.”
But as he cut her short, the Ceann Comhairle responded: “This is not a matter for the Order of Business.”
'Minefield around Traveller site' jibe broke equality law - Cambridgeshire
From the BBC
A councillor breached equality laws when he suggested putting a minefield around a Travellers' site in Cambridgeshire, a report has said.
Conservative Mervyn Loynes, of South Cambridgeshire District Council, made the comment about the Smithy Fen site to fellow councillors in February.
The council has now published the remarks in a report.
Mr Loynes, who had been told to complete equalities training, was unavailable for comment.
A council spokesman said the incident had been "mutually resolved" after Mr Loynes agreed to the training.
The BBC learned of Mr Loynes' remarks two weeks ago, but the council refused to confirm what he had said at the time.
'Tackle prejudice'
The published report details an independent investigation carried out on behalf of the council by solicitor consultant Robert Swinfield.
Continue reading the main story
It considered a number of complaints about comments allegedly made in front of council officers prior to a meeting to discuss Travellers' issues.
Mr Swinfield agreed one comment had breached the council's code of conduct.
"I have concluded that councillor Loynes went on to say 'I'd put a minefield round all of them'," said Mr Swinfield.
"By 'them', he meant the Traveller community at Smithy Fen."
Mr Swinfield said the comment had breached various clauses of the code of conduct relating to "respect, equalities and disrepute".
He added: "In my view the comment made by councillor Loynes does cause the council to breach the equalities enactments, in failing to have due regard to the need to foster good relations, tackle prejudice and promote understanding between persons who are travellers and those who are not."
Following initial complaints, Mr Loynes had resigned from two planning committees, a move described by Conservative council leader Ray Manning as the "honourable thing" to do.
The council's Civic Affairs Committee, which covers a number of areas including ethical standards, met on Monday to determine what information relating to the case would be made public.
see also: cambridge-news.co.uk - Councillor suggested minefield should be built round Travellers' site
A councillor breached equality laws when he suggested putting a minefield around a Travellers' site in Cambridgeshire, a report has said.
Conservative Mervyn Loynes, of South Cambridgeshire District Council, made the comment about the Smithy Fen site to fellow councillors in February.
The council has now published the remarks in a report.
Mr Loynes, who had been told to complete equalities training, was unavailable for comment.
A council spokesman said the incident had been "mutually resolved" after Mr Loynes agreed to the training.
The BBC learned of Mr Loynes' remarks two weeks ago, but the council refused to confirm what he had said at the time.
'Tackle prejudice'
The published report details an independent investigation carried out on behalf of the council by solicitor consultant Robert Swinfield.
Continue reading the main story
It considered a number of complaints about comments allegedly made in front of council officers prior to a meeting to discuss Travellers' issues.
Mr Swinfield agreed one comment had breached the council's code of conduct.
"I have concluded that councillor Loynes went on to say 'I'd put a minefield round all of them'," said Mr Swinfield.
"By 'them', he meant the Traveller community at Smithy Fen."
Mr Swinfield said the comment had breached various clauses of the code of conduct relating to "respect, equalities and disrepute".
He added: "In my view the comment made by councillor Loynes does cause the council to breach the equalities enactments, in failing to have due regard to the need to foster good relations, tackle prejudice and promote understanding between persons who are travellers and those who are not."
Following initial complaints, Mr Loynes had resigned from two planning committees, a move described by Conservative council leader Ray Manning as the "honourable thing" to do.
The council's Civic Affairs Committee, which covers a number of areas including ethical standards, met on Monday to determine what information relating to the case would be made public.
see also: cambridge-news.co.uk - Councillor suggested minefield should be built round Travellers' site
Tuesday 25 September 2012
Gypsies evicted from Merriott site - Somerset
From This Is Somerset
A gift of land to three villages in South Somerset is on course following the end of a four-year legal battle to evict a Gypsy family living on it.
Somerset County Council now plans to proceed with the transfer of a wooded beauty spot at Eggwood Hill, Lopen.
It would mean Merriott, Hinton St George and Lopen parish councils own the land straddling their boundaries, now used as public exercise and relaxation space but previously a roadside highways chipping store.
Cabinet Member Cllr David Huxtable said: "I'm pleased that the residents have the uninhibited use of Eggwood Hill again, and that we can resume the process of transferring the land to the three parish councils."
A gift of land to three villages in South Somerset is on course following the end of a four-year legal battle to evict a Gypsy family living on it.
Somerset County Council now plans to proceed with the transfer of a wooded beauty spot at Eggwood Hill, Lopen.
It would mean Merriott, Hinton St George and Lopen parish councils own the land straddling their boundaries, now used as public exercise and relaxation space but previously a roadside highways chipping store.
Cabinet Member Cllr David Huxtable said: "I'm pleased that the residents have the uninhibited use of Eggwood Hill again, and that we can resume the process of transferring the land to the three parish councils."
Pioneering Traveller community stands proud against cuts - London
From the Guardian
The land around Stable Way, west London, has proved a popular stopping place for Gypsies and Travellers for centuries. And since the 1970s, the area, encircled by three A-roads and a train track, has been the permanent home for 20 or so Irish Traveller families. Caravans are lined up on this official site in two neat parallel rows, wedged among the concrete pillars that shoulder the hulk of the elevated Westway.
Amid the roar of the traffic, the community of Travellers has set up a fully constituted Tenants' and Residents' Association (TRA) – one of just a dozen operating across 320 council-run Gypsy and Traveller sites in England and Wales.
Since its creation two years ago, Stable Way TRA has had remarkable success strengthening the community's relationships with the police, health services and Kensington and Chelsea council, as well as helping to improve residents' education and cutting crime.
Police call-outs have dropped by almost half, from 80 in 2007-08 to 47 in 2011-12, and primary school attendance has reached 100%. All families are now registered with GPs and dentists. When a measles outbreak hit the wider Traveller community last year only two children were affected on Stable Way, thanks to the success of an immunisation programme arranged through the TRA.
Cuts to funding
But the TRA's pioneering work is now threatened by cuts to funding for community and voluntary sector groups and a proposed housing development adjacent to the Travellers' homes. The association's efforts to improve its residents' lives had been aided by having a constitution, which has allowed it increased access to charitable funds.
"Travellers don't want to be seen as if we were asking people for money," says TRA chair Patrick O'Donnell. "A lot of people at first were thinking we would be seen as if we were begging until it was explained that the money is there for residents' associations to apply for."
So far it has helped secure £25,000 to help families hook up to the internet in a project that combines digital literacy lessons with cookery. Residents were taught how to email, search for recipes online, and take and send pictures of what they had prepared.
A further £2,400 has put young residents through driving theory tests. Phil Regan, a research and development officer for Westway Development Trust, which helped get the TRA off the ground, says: "One of the first points of contact between the criminal justice system and young male travellers has been persistent driving without a licence. The underlying reason is about different levels of literacy, some of them not being able to read or write enough to do the theory test." Five out of the 12 involved have passed the test so far.
Regular police attendance at TRA meetings has also improved relationships between police and residents. Travellers' dogs are now regularly checked and tagged, and police officers make greater efforts to act on residents' complaints. "People sometimes throw abuse and objects like bottles down from the Westway," says Regan. "At the last meeting, three officers from the transport police came along and said they really wanted to help. Now all incidents are fully recorded by the site manager and passed on to the police so they can follow them up."
Stable Way is seen within the Conservative-controlled Kensington and Chelsea council as a key part of its effort to build the prime minister's "big society". "We want to build a borough in which individuals can find support, purpose and solidarity from a range of voluntary bodies, be they TRAs, clubs or some other form of association," says a council spokesman. "We see supporting the development of TRAs as part of that."
Stable Way is also held up as an example of how to empower Gypsy and Traveller communities in new research by the Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC). The UK's 300,000 Gypsies and Travellers are among the most socially excluded and politically disempowered groups in British society, concludes the TSRC report, Hearing the Voice of Gypsies and Travellers. "This lack of political power is evidenced by the small number of TRAs that exist," says the report. It adds that TRAs such as Stable Way can "play an important role in improving access to services. They can represent the needs of tenants and make them aware of support and services".
The Irish Traveller Movement strongly supports the creation of residents' associations on Traveller sites. "What's happening on Stable Way is very important," says Yvonne MacNamara, its chief executive. "Traveller tenants' associations or residents' groups need to become legally constituted. This gives the Travellers involved a voice and more power. If a residents' group is legally constituted, then, by law, a local authority has to engage with them."
But MacNamara fears Traveller TRAs will suffer from council funding cuts. "If the TRAs and other stakeholders want something but the local authority can't afford it, then it's very unlikely to happen. That's the problem with the coalition government's big society idea, in a nutshell."
Report author Andrew Ryder, who acts as an adviser to the all-party parliamentary group for Traveller law reform, wants to see the few Traveller TRA success stories replicated across the UK, but he warns this could prove to be a huge challenge. "What is lacking is the financial support," he says. The big society rhetoric has not really helped those at the margins who need intensive support to get going, he explains. "We are talking about people who have been very disempowered."
Stable Way's achievements are also under threat from a regeneration scheme with a footprint of five rugby fields, which could be built on derelict land in a neighbouring borough right next to the Westway site. The plan for the sprawling former Dairy Crest site includes 11 buildings of up to 32 storeys, shops, restaurants and bars, and 1,150 homes.
The Travellers are frustrated that such a major development could go ahead while their repeated pleas for better accommodation have been ignored. No extra provision has been made in either borough since the site was officially recognised.
Martin Ward, a member of the TRA who has lived on Stable Way since 1972, says: "This site is for all of west London and we have got overcrowding here. In 40 years they could have bought another site."
The Travellers were sent a letter inviting them to consult about the planning proposals and they will be making their views known through the TRA, but O'Donnell believes its powers to influence decision-making are pretty slim. "The reason we set up the residents' association was to have a bigger say in the running of the site, but the council still seems to have the final word," he says. "If you look out there you can see daylight, but if they build those high rises it is going to be like we are indoors all the time."
Kensington and Chelsea council says it recognises the Westway site is far from ideal, but the borough is one of the most densely developed and expensive places in the world. "It is formidably difficult to find affordable land for any purpose," says a spokesman. He adds that the council has applied to the Greater London authority and the Big Lottery fund to help pay for improvements to the site, including an extra pitch to accommodate a family.
• A photographic exhibition, The Westway: a portrait of a community by Paul Wenham-Clarke, will be shown at St Martin-in-the-Fields Crypt Gallery, London, from 7 January 2013
The land around Stable Way, west London, has proved a popular stopping place for Gypsies and Travellers for centuries. And since the 1970s, the area, encircled by three A-roads and a train track, has been the permanent home for 20 or so Irish Traveller families. Caravans are lined up on this official site in two neat parallel rows, wedged among the concrete pillars that shoulder the hulk of the elevated Westway.
Amid the roar of the traffic, the community of Travellers has set up a fully constituted Tenants' and Residents' Association (TRA) – one of just a dozen operating across 320 council-run Gypsy and Traveller sites in England and Wales.
Since its creation two years ago, Stable Way TRA has had remarkable success strengthening the community's relationships with the police, health services and Kensington and Chelsea council, as well as helping to improve residents' education and cutting crime.
Police call-outs have dropped by almost half, from 80 in 2007-08 to 47 in 2011-12, and primary school attendance has reached 100%. All families are now registered with GPs and dentists. When a measles outbreak hit the wider Traveller community last year only two children were affected on Stable Way, thanks to the success of an immunisation programme arranged through the TRA.
Cuts to funding
But the TRA's pioneering work is now threatened by cuts to funding for community and voluntary sector groups and a proposed housing development adjacent to the Travellers' homes. The association's efforts to improve its residents' lives had been aided by having a constitution, which has allowed it increased access to charitable funds.
"Travellers don't want to be seen as if we were asking people for money," says TRA chair Patrick O'Donnell. "A lot of people at first were thinking we would be seen as if we were begging until it was explained that the money is there for residents' associations to apply for."
So far it has helped secure £25,000 to help families hook up to the internet in a project that combines digital literacy lessons with cookery. Residents were taught how to email, search for recipes online, and take and send pictures of what they had prepared.
A further £2,400 has put young residents through driving theory tests. Phil Regan, a research and development officer for Westway Development Trust, which helped get the TRA off the ground, says: "One of the first points of contact between the criminal justice system and young male travellers has been persistent driving without a licence. The underlying reason is about different levels of literacy, some of them not being able to read or write enough to do the theory test." Five out of the 12 involved have passed the test so far.
Regular police attendance at TRA meetings has also improved relationships between police and residents. Travellers' dogs are now regularly checked and tagged, and police officers make greater efforts to act on residents' complaints. "People sometimes throw abuse and objects like bottles down from the Westway," says Regan. "At the last meeting, three officers from the transport police came along and said they really wanted to help. Now all incidents are fully recorded by the site manager and passed on to the police so they can follow them up."
Stable Way is seen within the Conservative-controlled Kensington and Chelsea council as a key part of its effort to build the prime minister's "big society". "We want to build a borough in which individuals can find support, purpose and solidarity from a range of voluntary bodies, be they TRAs, clubs or some other form of association," says a council spokesman. "We see supporting the development of TRAs as part of that."
Stable Way is also held up as an example of how to empower Gypsy and Traveller communities in new research by the Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC). The UK's 300,000 Gypsies and Travellers are among the most socially excluded and politically disempowered groups in British society, concludes the TSRC report, Hearing the Voice of Gypsies and Travellers. "This lack of political power is evidenced by the small number of TRAs that exist," says the report. It adds that TRAs such as Stable Way can "play an important role in improving access to services. They can represent the needs of tenants and make them aware of support and services".
The Irish Traveller Movement strongly supports the creation of residents' associations on Traveller sites. "What's happening on Stable Way is very important," says Yvonne MacNamara, its chief executive. "Traveller tenants' associations or residents' groups need to become legally constituted. This gives the Travellers involved a voice and more power. If a residents' group is legally constituted, then, by law, a local authority has to engage with them."
But MacNamara fears Traveller TRAs will suffer from council funding cuts. "If the TRAs and other stakeholders want something but the local authority can't afford it, then it's very unlikely to happen. That's the problem with the coalition government's big society idea, in a nutshell."
Report author Andrew Ryder, who acts as an adviser to the all-party parliamentary group for Traveller law reform, wants to see the few Traveller TRA success stories replicated across the UK, but he warns this could prove to be a huge challenge. "What is lacking is the financial support," he says. The big society rhetoric has not really helped those at the margins who need intensive support to get going, he explains. "We are talking about people who have been very disempowered."
Stable Way's achievements are also under threat from a regeneration scheme with a footprint of five rugby fields, which could be built on derelict land in a neighbouring borough right next to the Westway site. The plan for the sprawling former Dairy Crest site includes 11 buildings of up to 32 storeys, shops, restaurants and bars, and 1,150 homes.
The Travellers are frustrated that such a major development could go ahead while their repeated pleas for better accommodation have been ignored. No extra provision has been made in either borough since the site was officially recognised.
Martin Ward, a member of the TRA who has lived on Stable Way since 1972, says: "This site is for all of west London and we have got overcrowding here. In 40 years they could have bought another site."
The Travellers were sent a letter inviting them to consult about the planning proposals and they will be making their views known through the TRA, but O'Donnell believes its powers to influence decision-making are pretty slim. "The reason we set up the residents' association was to have a bigger say in the running of the site, but the council still seems to have the final word," he says. "If you look out there you can see daylight, but if they build those high rises it is going to be like we are indoors all the time."
Kensington and Chelsea council says it recognises the Westway site is far from ideal, but the borough is one of the most densely developed and expensive places in the world. "It is formidably difficult to find affordable land for any purpose," says a spokesman. He adds that the council has applied to the Greater London authority and the Big Lottery fund to help pay for improvements to the site, including an extra pitch to accommodate a family.
• A photographic exhibition, The Westway: a portrait of a community by Paul Wenham-Clarke, will be shown at St Martin-in-the-Fields Crypt Gallery, London, from 7 January 2013
Travellers' site set to get approval - Cornwall
From the Cornish Times
PLANNERS are being recommended to approve proposals for a Travellers’ transit site on the outskirts of Looe.
Cornwall Council’s Planning East Committee is due to meet in Camelford on Wednesday when it will consider the application by Katrina Ring for the ten-pitch site at Valley View Stables, off Barbican Road, adjacent to the site of the proposed new Tesco store.
PLANNERS are being recommended to approve proposals for a Travellers’ transit site on the outskirts of Looe.
Cornwall Council’s Planning East Committee is due to meet in Camelford on Wednesday when it will consider the application by Katrina Ring for the ten-pitch site at Valley View Stables, off Barbican Road, adjacent to the site of the proposed new Tesco store.
Plans for travellers site - Worcestershire
From the Hereford Times
PLANS to expand a Travellers site on the edge of Malvern will go before councillors tomorrow.
Development plan approved despite fears Plans for travellers site
Malvern Hills District Council is looking to link up with Worcestershire County Council to bid for money to enlarge the Malvern Meadows site at Blackmore Park.
It currently has five pitches, but the district council is looking at adding an extra seven to nine, to fulfil its obligations to provide travellers sites.
The district council’s executive committee is being asked to approve a joint bid to the Homes and Community Agency to expand the site.
The cost of the work is estimated at £63,000. The report before the meeting says “the site is well run with no history of problems between residents, the local settled community and police”.
PLANS to expand a Travellers site on the edge of Malvern will go before councillors tomorrow.
Development plan approved despite fears Plans for travellers site
Malvern Hills District Council is looking to link up with Worcestershire County Council to bid for money to enlarge the Malvern Meadows site at Blackmore Park.
It currently has five pitches, but the district council is looking at adding an extra seven to nine, to fulfil its obligations to provide travellers sites.
The district council’s executive committee is being asked to approve a joint bid to the Homes and Community Agency to expand the site.
The cost of the work is estimated at £63,000. The report before the meeting says “the site is well run with no history of problems between residents, the local settled community and police”.
Travellers erect greenhouse at Brighton camp - Sussex
From the Argus
This group of Travellers seem set for a lengthy stay in a Brighton sports centre car park after erecting a greenhouse at their temporary base.
The group built a cover for a range of plants after locating to the car park of Waterhall playing fields.
The site is now home to two groups of Travellers although Brighton and Hove City Council have said they will look to evict the groups this week.
A council spokeswoman said: “There are two groups of Travellers illegally camped at Waterhall, one of Irish Travellers in 14 lived-in vehicles and the other of van dwellers with approximately 14 vehicles.
“The council will be effecting an eviction as soon as practicable.”
This group of Travellers seem set for a lengthy stay in a Brighton sports centre car park after erecting a greenhouse at their temporary base.
The group built a cover for a range of plants after locating to the car park of Waterhall playing fields.
The site is now home to two groups of Travellers although Brighton and Hove City Council have said they will look to evict the groups this week.
A council spokeswoman said: “There are two groups of Travellers illegally camped at Waterhall, one of Irish Travellers in 14 lived-in vehicles and the other of van dwellers with approximately 14 vehicles.
“The council will be effecting an eviction as soon as practicable.”
Have your say on new Gypsy and Travellers transit site for Plymouth - Devon
From the Plymouth Herald
PLYMOTHIANS can have their say on new Gypsy and Traveller sites planned for the city.
Public consultation events start today at Woolwell Community Centre from 2pm to 6.30pm and again on October 2. An exhibition will also run for six weeks at the George Park and Ride between until October 12 as well as an opportunity to comment by completing an online survey.
Plymouth City Council said a public consultation had been launched on the previously agreed proposal to develop a Gypsy and Traveller transit site on the outskirts of Plymouth.
Residents and businesses are being asked for their views on the site designs and management arrangements for the transit site at Broadley Park near Roborough.
Cabinet member for Co-operatives and Community Development, Councillor Chris Penberthy, said: "I know that this is a sensitive issue but we do need a proactive approach to dealing with unauthorised encampments.
"These are affecting more and more neighbourhoods and we can't ignore the problems they cause.
"Providing a transit site would mean we expect to see a reduction in the number of unauthorised encampments and subsequently we hope to ease community tension.
"It is important we hear the views from all sections of the community about this site, local businesses, residents and the Gypsy and Travellers communities so I would urge everyone to let us know what they think and respond to the consultation."
Further events will be held for businesses operating from the Broadley Park industrial estate and with the Gypsy and Traveller communities, Plymouth City Council said.
Plymouth City Council said unauthorised encampments in the city cost them up to £300,000 a year in clean up costs.
Last year there were 40, some of which caused significant problems for local residents.
The site will help prevent unauthorised encampments and save thousands of pounds in clean up costs each year.
The land is owned by Plymouth City Council although it is within the South Hams.
see also: The Plymouth Herald - Plans for Plymouth Gypsies and Travellers' transit site go on show
PLYMOTHIANS can have their say on new Gypsy and Traveller sites planned for the city.
Public consultation events start today at Woolwell Community Centre from 2pm to 6.30pm and again on October 2. An exhibition will also run for six weeks at the George Park and Ride between until October 12 as well as an opportunity to comment by completing an online survey.
Plymouth City Council said a public consultation had been launched on the previously agreed proposal to develop a Gypsy and Traveller transit site on the outskirts of Plymouth.
Residents and businesses are being asked for their views on the site designs and management arrangements for the transit site at Broadley Park near Roborough.
Cabinet member for Co-operatives and Community Development, Councillor Chris Penberthy, said: "I know that this is a sensitive issue but we do need a proactive approach to dealing with unauthorised encampments.
"These are affecting more and more neighbourhoods and we can't ignore the problems they cause.
"Providing a transit site would mean we expect to see a reduction in the number of unauthorised encampments and subsequently we hope to ease community tension.
"It is important we hear the views from all sections of the community about this site, local businesses, residents and the Gypsy and Travellers communities so I would urge everyone to let us know what they think and respond to the consultation."
Further events will be held for businesses operating from the Broadley Park industrial estate and with the Gypsy and Traveller communities, Plymouth City Council said.
Plymouth City Council said unauthorised encampments in the city cost them up to £300,000 a year in clean up costs.
Last year there were 40, some of which caused significant problems for local residents.
The site will help prevent unauthorised encampments and save thousands of pounds in clean up costs each year.
The land is owned by Plymouth City Council although it is within the South Hams.
see also: The Plymouth Herald - Plans for Plymouth Gypsies and Travellers' transit site go on show
Travellers arrive at park-and-ride site - Aberdeen
From the Evening Express
TRAVELLERS have pitched up at a popular park-and-ride spot near Aberdeen.
Ten caravans were spotted at the Ellon park-and-ride car park.
At least four of the mobile homes were taking up car parking spaces used by commuters to leave their vehicles.
TRAVELLERS have pitched up at a popular park-and-ride spot near Aberdeen.
Ten caravans were spotted at the Ellon park-and-ride car park.
At least four of the mobile homes were taking up car parking spaces used by commuters to leave their vehicles.
Monday 24 September 2012
Residents’ fears for new Thundersley Travellers' site - Essex
From the Echo
PEOPLE living near a planned new Traveller pitch in Thundersley say they will move out if the site gets approval.
Residents fears the site, known as Janda Fields, off Fane Road, could become the new Dale Farm , after a group of five caravans moved there over the August bank holiday weekend.
Plans to create a fully-fledged three-pitch caravan site were then submitted to Castle Point Council.
However, concerns have been raised the site could expand after a neighbouring piece of land, owned by Castle Point Council, was put up for sale.
Anxious residents in nearby Great Burches Road say the neighbourhood would become a ghost town if the plans were approved, as homeowners are already considering moving aware from the area.
One 46-year-old woman, who did not want to be named, said: “All the residents here are up in arms about this. It used to be a lovely rural place, but now we have quad bikes coming through and caravans coming on to the site at all hours of the day. What makes it worse is only five people were told about this application.
“Lots of people are saying already they are going to move because they’re worried property values will plummet if this goes ahead. I will be one of them.”
Castle Point Council has already said it will not be ordering the removal of caravans or serve notices banning further development until the planning application is determined.
One 51-year-old man, who also did not want to be named, said: “A lot of the people here are genuinely frightened by this. I just don’t know what to do. I’ve lived here 16 years and poured my retirement into this home, but I do not want to stay here.
“I feel so let down by the council for not taking action. You would think it would be only too keen to prevent another Dale Farm happening here.”
Patrick and Miles McCarthy, who both have links to the former Dale Farm site in Crays Hill, paid £83,500 in cash for the two-acre site in June this year.
Bidding for the additional green belt land off Bassenthwaite Road ended last week and the buyer is set to be known in the coming days.
PEOPLE living near a planned new Traveller pitch in Thundersley say they will move out if the site gets approval.
Residents fears the site, known as Janda Fields, off Fane Road, could become the new Dale Farm , after a group of five caravans moved there over the August bank holiday weekend.
Plans to create a fully-fledged three-pitch caravan site were then submitted to Castle Point Council.
However, concerns have been raised the site could expand after a neighbouring piece of land, owned by Castle Point Council, was put up for sale.
Anxious residents in nearby Great Burches Road say the neighbourhood would become a ghost town if the plans were approved, as homeowners are already considering moving aware from the area.
One 46-year-old woman, who did not want to be named, said: “All the residents here are up in arms about this. It used to be a lovely rural place, but now we have quad bikes coming through and caravans coming on to the site at all hours of the day. What makes it worse is only five people were told about this application.
“Lots of people are saying already they are going to move because they’re worried property values will plummet if this goes ahead. I will be one of them.”
Castle Point Council has already said it will not be ordering the removal of caravans or serve notices banning further development until the planning application is determined.
One 51-year-old man, who also did not want to be named, said: “A lot of the people here are genuinely frightened by this. I just don’t know what to do. I’ve lived here 16 years and poured my retirement into this home, but I do not want to stay here.
“I feel so let down by the council for not taking action. You would think it would be only too keen to prevent another Dale Farm happening here.”
Patrick and Miles McCarthy, who both have links to the former Dale Farm site in Crays Hill, paid £83,500 in cash for the two-acre site in June this year.
Bidding for the additional green belt land off Bassenthwaite Road ended last week and the buyer is set to be known in the coming days.
Peterborough Travellers' site shootings: Man 'serious' in hospital - Cambridgeshire
From the BBC
A man remains in a "serious but stable" condition after being shot at a travellers' site in Cambridgeshire.
The 41-year-old was taken to hospital following an incident in Oxney Road, Peterborough, shortly after 10:00 BST on 17 September.
Two other men, aged 43 and 46 who also sustained serious gunshot wounds, have since been released.
Police confirmed two of the injured men are brothers and were believed to be visiting the site.
People living at the site told BBC Look East's Sally Chidzoy the three injured men were shot in caravans.
"The travellers are loath to go on camera... but those that have spoken to us say it's clear to them that this was a grudge attack," she added.
Following the incident officers removed evidence from the scene, including a car with gunshot damage.
A spokeswoman from Cambridgeshire Police said: "This is being treated as an isolated incident and investigations are ongoing to establish who is responsible for this shooting and what the circumstances are behind it."
A man remains in a "serious but stable" condition after being shot at a travellers' site in Cambridgeshire.
The 41-year-old was taken to hospital following an incident in Oxney Road, Peterborough, shortly after 10:00 BST on 17 September.
Two other men, aged 43 and 46 who also sustained serious gunshot wounds, have since been released.
Police confirmed two of the injured men are brothers and were believed to be visiting the site.
People living at the site told BBC Look East's Sally Chidzoy the three injured men were shot in caravans.
"The travellers are loath to go on camera... but those that have spoken to us say it's clear to them that this was a grudge attack," she added.
Following the incident officers removed evidence from the scene, including a car with gunshot damage.
A spokeswoman from Cambridgeshire Police said: "This is being treated as an isolated incident and investigations are ongoing to establish who is responsible for this shooting and what the circumstances are behind it."
Fresh pitch on homes for Travellers - Bedfordshire
From the Leighton Buzzard Observer
The public is being asked to back a blueprint outlining the provision of pitches for Gypsies and Travellers over the next 19 years.
Central Beds Council’s new Gypsy and Traveller Local Plan will include new policies outlining how planning applications for pitches will be assessed as well as identifying new sites.
Once specific proposals have been identified, the draft plans will go to a full public consultation in May next year. One area that was initially identified as a possible site was Black Barn off Mentmore Road, Linslade.
Councillor Nigel Young said: “We know that this plan will be of interest to both the settled and Gypsy and Traveller communities and are committed to having a full and transparent consultation with everyone concerned and giving people greater input from the outset.”
The plan can be downloaded from the council’s website at www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/strategic-planning under the ‘planning news and consultation’ section.
The public can comment on the plans online or by getting paper feedback forms from council offices and libraries. Comments must be received by 5pm on Monday, October 29.
The public is being asked to back a blueprint outlining the provision of pitches for Gypsies and Travellers over the next 19 years.
Central Beds Council’s new Gypsy and Traveller Local Plan will include new policies outlining how planning applications for pitches will be assessed as well as identifying new sites.
Once specific proposals have been identified, the draft plans will go to a full public consultation in May next year. One area that was initially identified as a possible site was Black Barn off Mentmore Road, Linslade.
Councillor Nigel Young said: “We know that this plan will be of interest to both the settled and Gypsy and Traveller communities and are committed to having a full and transparent consultation with everyone concerned and giving people greater input from the outset.”
The plan can be downloaded from the council’s website at www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/strategic-planning under the ‘planning news and consultation’ section.
The public can comment on the plans online or by getting paper feedback forms from council offices and libraries. Comments must be received by 5pm on Monday, October 29.
Travellers leave Springfield Green - Essex
From the Chelmsford Weekly news
A GROUP of Travellers who set up camp on Springfield Green have left the site.
Having been asked by Chelmsford Council to move off the land after getting on there overnight on September 18, the travellers moved away at about 12.30pm on Sunday.
Council officials had threatened to take legal action and getting an injuction to force the people off the green if they had not left by Monday afternoon.
Police officers carried out regular patrols around the caravans while they were positioned on the land.
see also: The Essex Chronicle - Irish Travellers told to leave Springfield Green
A GROUP of Travellers who set up camp on Springfield Green have left the site.
Having been asked by Chelmsford Council to move off the land after getting on there overnight on September 18, the travellers moved away at about 12.30pm on Sunday.
Council officials had threatened to take legal action and getting an injuction to force the people off the green if they had not left by Monday afternoon.
Police officers carried out regular patrols around the caravans while they were positioned on the land.
see also: The Essex Chronicle - Irish Travellers told to leave Springfield Green
Burnley MP hits out at massive clean-up bill as Travellers set up illegal camp - Lancashire
From This Is Lancashire
TRAVELLERS who refuse to leave Burnley are costing taxpayers ‘tens of thousands of pounds’ according to the town’s MP.
Gordon Birtwistle said the escalating legal and clean-up bills for moving the groups along were extremely worrying.
One group of around 30 vehicles has just moved to a patch of grass near Tay Street - their third different location in three weeks.
And in recent months at least three other large encampments have been set up around the town.
The latest group arrived two weeks ago in Cog Lane, before being moved on after the council gained a court order.
The group then took over a piece of land next to a children’s play park between Tabor Street and Ighten Road.
Councillor Charlie Briggs said to gain access the Travellers must have moved boulders put in place to stop trespassers.
On Wednesday they again moved on to their present location after being served with a possession order.
It is understood that the group has family in the area which is why they have refused to move to another town.
The land they are now on is a cleared area which has been set aside for housing development.
Mr Birtwistle, the borough’s former council leader, said public opinion was against the travellers because of the problems they caused for residents.
He said: “They know what they are doing. They don’t care about the mess they leave behind and they are not good neighbours.
“They are causing hassle and the taxpayers are paying for it.
“Between the legal costs of getting a court order to move them along and the costs of cleaning up after them every time, the council are spending tens of thousands of pounds that could be spent on worthwhile causes.
“It’s not a pleasant job clearing up after them.
“At the minute there doesn’t seem to be a solution other than securing all the sites, which clearly won’t benefit people who actually want to use them.”
In April this year, a large group of travellers was believed to have cut the locks off gates at Hargher Clough Rec in Harold Avenue in order to park their vehicles on a council play area.
That case prompted council chiefs to take the unprecedented step of closing two public car parks in Towneley Park for a weekend to keep them out.
There have also been camps on the council-owned Prairie Playing Fields, on the corner of Windermere Avenue and Colne Road in Reedley.
A spokesman for Burnley Council said: “The council is aware of the group at Pollard Street and action to remove them has commenced.”
Councillor Howard Baker, who represents the Trinity ward where the travellers are currently staying, said the situation was ‘a difficult one’.
He said: “There is no quick answer to this. They have a right to travel but it is frustrating.”
Residents near the latest site had mixed feelings about the latest deluge of caravans nearby.
One man from Howard Street, who asked not to be named, said: “Most people around here are annoyed about it. It looks awful and they do nothing for the area.
“They are occupying car parks and fields that should be used by the local community. No-one else would get away with moving boulders to get on to a play park so why do they?”
But a neighbour on the same street said: “They haven’t really done any harm so far. Maybe if there was more affordable social housing they wouldn’t have to travel.”
The government’s North West of England Plan has made calls for an extra 10 permanent pitches for travellers and five transit pitches in addition to the 15 currently available. The closest one to Burnley is Whinney Hill in neighbouring Hyndburn.
TRAVELLERS who refuse to leave Burnley are costing taxpayers ‘tens of thousands of pounds’ according to the town’s MP.
Gordon Birtwistle said the escalating legal and clean-up bills for moving the groups along were extremely worrying.
One group of around 30 vehicles has just moved to a patch of grass near Tay Street - their third different location in three weeks.
And in recent months at least three other large encampments have been set up around the town.
The latest group arrived two weeks ago in Cog Lane, before being moved on after the council gained a court order.
The group then took over a piece of land next to a children’s play park between Tabor Street and Ighten Road.
Councillor Charlie Briggs said to gain access the Travellers must have moved boulders put in place to stop trespassers.
On Wednesday they again moved on to their present location after being served with a possession order.
It is understood that the group has family in the area which is why they have refused to move to another town.
The land they are now on is a cleared area which has been set aside for housing development.
Mr Birtwistle, the borough’s former council leader, said public opinion was against the travellers because of the problems they caused for residents.
He said: “They know what they are doing. They don’t care about the mess they leave behind and they are not good neighbours.
“They are causing hassle and the taxpayers are paying for it.
“Between the legal costs of getting a court order to move them along and the costs of cleaning up after them every time, the council are spending tens of thousands of pounds that could be spent on worthwhile causes.
“It’s not a pleasant job clearing up after them.
“At the minute there doesn’t seem to be a solution other than securing all the sites, which clearly won’t benefit people who actually want to use them.”
In April this year, a large group of travellers was believed to have cut the locks off gates at Hargher Clough Rec in Harold Avenue in order to park their vehicles on a council play area.
That case prompted council chiefs to take the unprecedented step of closing two public car parks in Towneley Park for a weekend to keep them out.
There have also been camps on the council-owned Prairie Playing Fields, on the corner of Windermere Avenue and Colne Road in Reedley.
A spokesman for Burnley Council said: “The council is aware of the group at Pollard Street and action to remove them has commenced.”
Councillor Howard Baker, who represents the Trinity ward where the travellers are currently staying, said the situation was ‘a difficult one’.
He said: “There is no quick answer to this. They have a right to travel but it is frustrating.”
Residents near the latest site had mixed feelings about the latest deluge of caravans nearby.
One man from Howard Street, who asked not to be named, said: “Most people around here are annoyed about it. It looks awful and they do nothing for the area.
“They are occupying car parks and fields that should be used by the local community. No-one else would get away with moving boulders to get on to a play park so why do they?”
But a neighbour on the same street said: “They haven’t really done any harm so far. Maybe if there was more affordable social housing they wouldn’t have to travel.”
The government’s North West of England Plan has made calls for an extra 10 permanent pitches for travellers and five transit pitches in addition to the 15 currently available. The closest one to Burnley is Whinney Hill in neighbouring Hyndburn.
Travellers’ site investigation - Lincolnshire
From the Spalding Guardian
AN INVESTIGATION is being held into an allegation surrounding the cost of Holbeach Travellers’ site.
The Audit Commission has been looking into the complaint by a member of the public that South Holland District Council’s expenditure on the Rose View Drive site was “unlawful”.
The site has been dogged by controversy, not least questions about how much the district council spent buying the land for the site from Lincolnshire County Council.
The district council’s initial valuation was £40,000 – ten times less than the county council’s asking price.
Agreement was finally reached in July last year, but the final figure was kept under wraps because it was “commercially sensitive”.
It has now been revealed that South Holland District Council paid £114,000 to buy the land and pay compensation and losses.
It means the total spent on providing the ten-pitch site off the A151 link road is in the region of £1,076,000.
The basis of the complaint against the council has not been revealed, but South Holland District Council’s accounts for the year 2010-11 are still awaiting certification by the external auditor as a result.
The auditor is not allowed to issue the audit certificate until the investigation is complete, which is expected to happen by October 31.
The cost of the investigation, which will be charged to the council, is expected to be around £30,000.
The Holbeach Travellers’ site was supposed to be one of three for which the council received Government funding of £1.7m.
Less than £640,000 is now available for the other two, including a temporary site earmarked for Sutton Bridge.
A planning application for the third, possibly at Broad Drove, Gosberton Clough, is expected this autumn.
AN INVESTIGATION is being held into an allegation surrounding the cost of Holbeach Travellers’ site.
The Audit Commission has been looking into the complaint by a member of the public that South Holland District Council’s expenditure on the Rose View Drive site was “unlawful”.
The site has been dogged by controversy, not least questions about how much the district council spent buying the land for the site from Lincolnshire County Council.
The district council’s initial valuation was £40,000 – ten times less than the county council’s asking price.
Agreement was finally reached in July last year, but the final figure was kept under wraps because it was “commercially sensitive”.
It has now been revealed that South Holland District Council paid £114,000 to buy the land and pay compensation and losses.
It means the total spent on providing the ten-pitch site off the A151 link road is in the region of £1,076,000.
The basis of the complaint against the council has not been revealed, but South Holland District Council’s accounts for the year 2010-11 are still awaiting certification by the external auditor as a result.
The auditor is not allowed to issue the audit certificate until the investigation is complete, which is expected to happen by October 31.
The cost of the investigation, which will be charged to the council, is expected to be around £30,000.
The Holbeach Travellers’ site was supposed to be one of three for which the council received Government funding of £1.7m.
Less than £640,000 is now available for the other two, including a temporary site earmarked for Sutton Bridge.
A planning application for the third, possibly at Broad Drove, Gosberton Clough, is expected this autumn.
Committee appalled by repeated failures on treatment of Gypsy/Travellers - Scotland
From The Scottish Parliament
Repeated failures on access to health and social care for the Gypsy/Traveller community in Scotland have been strongly criticised by the Equal Opportunities Committee which described itself as appalled and horrified at the discrimination highlighted in a report published today.
The Gypsy/Travellers and Care report highlights as extremely concerning an average male life expectancy of 55 years, poor quality encampments located beside landfill sites and under electricity pylons, GP surgeries refusing to see patients, and unimplemented government recommendations and short-term initiatives.
Committee Convener Mary Fee MSP said:
“If we were to substitute any other ethnic minority instead of Gypsy/Travellers in our report there would be uproar at the obvious racial discrimination. Yet, our report shows that despite initiatives in the last 15 years by successive governments, very little real change has actually been achieved to improve the lives of Gypsy/Travellers.
“Access to health and social care alongside other public services must be universal. We look to the Scottish Government now to take the lead in making real, significant changes to the lives of Gypsy/travellers, with speed and commitment.”
The committee’s report recommendations also highlighted further issues including:
An investigation into the extensive delays in waiting times for aids and adaptations for elderly and/or disabled individuals living in caravans and chalets.
An assurance that alternative options for care support should be considered including drop-in surgeries and/or a network for GPs to share information on patients who may move from one local authority to another.
Strong leadership at management level in public sector services should ensure that policies on GP registration and treatment take into account cultural sensitivities and do not indirectly discriminate by requiring a fixed address for example.
Background
The Session 3 Equal Opportunities Committee carried out work looking into carer’s issues, and recognised that work was necessary on minority ethnic carers. The Scottish Government’s 2010 strategy Caring Together: The Carer’s Strategy for Scotland 2010-2015, acknowledged that little was known about certain groups of carers, such as Gypsy/Travellers. Given the information made available through MECOPP’s work, the Equal Opportunities Committee launched the inquiry Gypsy/Travellers and Care at the oral evidence stage.
The Equal Opportunities Committee is also conducting a second inquiry, titled Where Gypsy/Travellers Live, expected to report in early 2013.
The source of the life span of Gypsy/Traveller community is Dr Iain McNicol. (Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee, Official Report, 29 May, 2012).
see also: The BBC - MSPs raise Gypsy 'discrimination' concerns
Repeated failures on access to health and social care for the Gypsy/Traveller community in Scotland have been strongly criticised by the Equal Opportunities Committee which described itself as appalled and horrified at the discrimination highlighted in a report published today.
The Gypsy/Travellers and Care report highlights as extremely concerning an average male life expectancy of 55 years, poor quality encampments located beside landfill sites and under electricity pylons, GP surgeries refusing to see patients, and unimplemented government recommendations and short-term initiatives.
Committee Convener Mary Fee MSP said:
“If we were to substitute any other ethnic minority instead of Gypsy/Travellers in our report there would be uproar at the obvious racial discrimination. Yet, our report shows that despite initiatives in the last 15 years by successive governments, very little real change has actually been achieved to improve the lives of Gypsy/Travellers.
“Access to health and social care alongside other public services must be universal. We look to the Scottish Government now to take the lead in making real, significant changes to the lives of Gypsy/travellers, with speed and commitment.”
The committee’s report recommendations also highlighted further issues including:
An investigation into the extensive delays in waiting times for aids and adaptations for elderly and/or disabled individuals living in caravans and chalets.
An assurance that alternative options for care support should be considered including drop-in surgeries and/or a network for GPs to share information on patients who may move from one local authority to another.
Strong leadership at management level in public sector services should ensure that policies on GP registration and treatment take into account cultural sensitivities and do not indirectly discriminate by requiring a fixed address for example.
Background
The Session 3 Equal Opportunities Committee carried out work looking into carer’s issues, and recognised that work was necessary on minority ethnic carers. The Scottish Government’s 2010 strategy Caring Together: The Carer’s Strategy for Scotland 2010-2015, acknowledged that little was known about certain groups of carers, such as Gypsy/Travellers. Given the information made available through MECOPP’s work, the Equal Opportunities Committee launched the inquiry Gypsy/Travellers and Care at the oral evidence stage.
The Equal Opportunities Committee is also conducting a second inquiry, titled Where Gypsy/Travellers Live, expected to report in early 2013.
The source of the life span of Gypsy/Traveller community is Dr Iain McNicol. (Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee, Official Report, 29 May, 2012).
see also: The BBC - MSPs raise Gypsy 'discrimination' concerns
Sunday 23 September 2012
Mother’s race for £250k to save life
From the Sun
A DYING mum of two is racing to raise £250,000 for a double lung transplant after health service bosses refused to pay.
Clarajane Penfold’s condition has been triggered by rheumatoid arthritis.
The NHS says docs cannot operate and it will not pay for a trip to the US where a surgeon has agreed to a transplant.
Clarajane and partner Shane, both 32, of Cranleigh, Surrey, have sold their chalet home, car, horses, jewellery and kids’ toys to raise cash.
Travelling people worldwide have given £550,000 but she still needs £250,000 more.
Clarajane, who will soon be too weak to travel, said: “People get boob jobs free on the NHS yet they won’t pay to save my life.”
An NHS spokesman said: “We have to consider how well a patient is likely to benefit.”
A DYING mum of two is racing to raise £250,000 for a double lung transplant after health service bosses refused to pay.
Clarajane Penfold’s condition has been triggered by rheumatoid arthritis.
The NHS says docs cannot operate and it will not pay for a trip to the US where a surgeon has agreed to a transplant.
Clarajane and partner Shane, both 32, of Cranleigh, Surrey, have sold their chalet home, car, horses, jewellery and kids’ toys to raise cash.
Travelling people worldwide have given £550,000 but she still needs £250,000 more.
Clarajane, who will soon be too weak to travel, said: “People get boob jobs free on the NHS yet they won’t pay to save my life.”
An NHS spokesman said: “We have to consider how well a patient is likely to benefit.”
Saturday 22 September 2012
Council carries on with talks on Travellers' sites - Somerset
From the Somerset Guardian
Bath and North East Somerset Council will push ahead with a consultation looking at allocating patches of land for use as Traveller sites despite pleas from the public calling for the whole process to be halted.
The council's cabinet confirmed they will not be creating gypsy and traveller sites in Bath Old Road Radstock, Stanton Wick former colliery or at land near to Ellsbridge House in Keynsham but said they will now be looking closely at 22 other suggested locations including Clandown and Radford.
B&NES, which currently has no authorised Gypsy or Traveller sites despite being required to find at least 22 permanent pitches, 20 transit pitches and one yard for travelling showmen, also confirmed that land located within the green belt at Woollard Lane in Whitchurch, which is already used without planning permission as a traveller site, will be included in the list of sites being pushed forward, as will other sites in Twerton and Newbridge.
The meeting heard from 20 members of the public who spoke to make their views known. Many requested that the council stop the process and questioned why the council had ditched the scoring matrix used to identify the suitability of possible sites.
Mary Walsh, joint chair of Whitchurch Village Action Group, questioned why the site at Woollard Lane had not been dismissed and warned that by including it on the list of possible sites it was leaving the whole green belt open to inappropriate development.
Residents in Stanton Wick and Radstock say they have been celebrating the permanent removal of the sites close to their homes.
Clarke Osborne, chair of Stanton Wick Action Group which was fighting plans to create 15 permanent and five transit pitches at the former colliery, welcomed the removal of what he described as "three wholly unsuitable, unsustainable, and undeliverable sites."
Les Robson, co-chair of Bath Old Road Action Group said: "This is a victory for local democracy and community action. We have given B&NES many opportunities to scrap their deeply-flawed plans and they have finally listened. The council should be ashamed that local residents have had to put their lives on hold and gone to considerable personal and financial expense in fighting these wholly inappropriate sites. We hope that B&NES will find suitable sites for the travelling community and address this very real need."
Councillor Eleanor Jackson (Lab, Radstock) described the consultation so far as a "total shambles."
Dr Jackson pointed out the need for housing for Travellers but criticised the way the local authority has carried out the current consultation and the impact it has already had of residents – including a Radstock man whose house sale fell through when the public became aware that Bath Old Road could be home to a traveller site.
She encouraged the council to ensure there are enough planning officers working on the project and that the views of travellers were being listened to.
She also suggested the same planning questions should be asked about traveller sites as would be of any other housing development.
Dr Jackson suggested the site at Clandown FC earlier in the summer when B&NES asked for possible site suggestions.
B&NES will now be carrying out a "stock take" and review between now and December.
Bath and North East Somerset Council will push ahead with a consultation looking at allocating patches of land for use as Traveller sites despite pleas from the public calling for the whole process to be halted.
The council's cabinet confirmed they will not be creating gypsy and traveller sites in Bath Old Road Radstock, Stanton Wick former colliery or at land near to Ellsbridge House in Keynsham but said they will now be looking closely at 22 other suggested locations including Clandown and Radford.
B&NES, which currently has no authorised Gypsy or Traveller sites despite being required to find at least 22 permanent pitches, 20 transit pitches and one yard for travelling showmen, also confirmed that land located within the green belt at Woollard Lane in Whitchurch, which is already used without planning permission as a traveller site, will be included in the list of sites being pushed forward, as will other sites in Twerton and Newbridge.
The meeting heard from 20 members of the public who spoke to make their views known. Many requested that the council stop the process and questioned why the council had ditched the scoring matrix used to identify the suitability of possible sites.
Mary Walsh, joint chair of Whitchurch Village Action Group, questioned why the site at Woollard Lane had not been dismissed and warned that by including it on the list of possible sites it was leaving the whole green belt open to inappropriate development.
Residents in Stanton Wick and Radstock say they have been celebrating the permanent removal of the sites close to their homes.
Clarke Osborne, chair of Stanton Wick Action Group which was fighting plans to create 15 permanent and five transit pitches at the former colliery, welcomed the removal of what he described as "three wholly unsuitable, unsustainable, and undeliverable sites."
Les Robson, co-chair of Bath Old Road Action Group said: "This is a victory for local democracy and community action. We have given B&NES many opportunities to scrap their deeply-flawed plans and they have finally listened. The council should be ashamed that local residents have had to put their lives on hold and gone to considerable personal and financial expense in fighting these wholly inappropriate sites. We hope that B&NES will find suitable sites for the travelling community and address this very real need."
Councillor Eleanor Jackson (Lab, Radstock) described the consultation so far as a "total shambles."
Dr Jackson pointed out the need for housing for Travellers but criticised the way the local authority has carried out the current consultation and the impact it has already had of residents – including a Radstock man whose house sale fell through when the public became aware that Bath Old Road could be home to a traveller site.
She encouraged the council to ensure there are enough planning officers working on the project and that the views of travellers were being listened to.
She also suggested the same planning questions should be asked about traveller sites as would be of any other housing development.
Dr Jackson suggested the site at Clandown FC earlier in the summer when B&NES asked for possible site suggestions.
B&NES will now be carrying out a "stock take" and review between now and December.
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