Consultation with local people on action to address the absence of any authorised local sites for Gypsies and Travellers will be discussed by Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Cabinet on May 9th 2012.
Over the past 10 years, there have been around 20 unauthorised Gypsy and Traveller sites across the district. In some cases, this has resulted in:
- Concerns expressed by local people and communities in which unauthorised sites have appeared due to their impact on the environment;
- Costs incurred by the local taxpayer in relation to monitoring of the unauthorised site, clean-up when the travellers have left, and planning expenditure.
The Council wants to resolve these issues by allocating land for Gypsy/ Traveller pitches and a Travelling Showmen yard so that the number of Gypsies and Travellers in our area can be accommodated.
Once the Council has allocated land for pitches and facilities are in place, they will have a firm basis upon which to take robust enforcement action on unauthorised sites.
Improved facilities on authorised sites will result in an improved local environment and more orderly surroundings compared with unauthorised sites. This will reduce the costs to the local taxpayer that are associated with some unauthorised occupations.
Unlike now, inhabitants on sites will be eligible to pay Council Tax and therefore will contribute to the costs of running Council services that currently are only picked up by existing residents. The approach also offers the opportunity to access Central Government Grants, such as Traveller Pitch Funding, to provide the sites and minimise the expense of any development costs to the local taxpayer.
They are the only local authority out of Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire Councils to have no authorised Gypsy and Traveller pitches. These authorities contain 179 pitches between them. They are able to better manage the impact of flows of Gypsies and Travellers in their area. For example, Bristol City Council’s unauthorised site enforcement costs have dropped from around £200,000 per year to £5,000 since authorised pitches were established.
Councillor Steve Hedges (Liberal Democrat, Odd Down), who is Vice Chair of the Housing and Major Projects panel, commented: “I am pleased that the Council is at last tackling this issue. This is the right thing to do. It will help us tackle the problems caused by illegal pitches and it will mean that the Council is addressing the needs of some of the most vulnerable members of our communities. Gypsies and travellers are frequently victims of racism and discrimination and are often unable to access services such as schools for their children and healthcare.
“The previous Conservative administration clearly showed its attitude to this community. Year after year they put off finding official sites, despite legislation requiring Councils to provide pitches and despite the illegal pitches which have caused many problems in places like Odd Down and Entry Hill.“
Sites for proposed consultation
Detailed studies have identified the level of need in our district as being 22 permanent pitches, 20 transit pitches and 1 yard for Travelling Showmen. This requirement is reflected in their Draft Core Strategy.
The Draft Consultation document that will be discussed by the Cabinet puts forward seven possible sites. These sites have the potential to deliver significantly higher numbers of pitches above the level of need. This allows the opportunity for open debate about where local people think are the most suitable locations. No final decisions on which locations will be used have been taken. The suggested locations are:
- Old Colliery Buildings, Stanton Wick; 15 permanent and 5 transit;
- Lower Bristol Road, Twerton; 15 transit;
- The Daglands open space, Camerton; 9 permanent;
- Land near Ellsbridge House, Keynsham; 6 permanent;
- Former Radstock Infant School canteen; 2 permanent;
- Woollard Lane, Parcel 7100, Whitchurch; 2 permanent;
- Station Road, Newbridge; 1 Travelling Showmen’s Yard.
These sites being put forward for consultation are considered the most suitable following a ‘call for sites’ that took place last year and a rigorous Council assessment of over twenty sites according to criteria including impact on surrounding areas, access to facilities, and site access.
What happens next?
The Council Cabinet will discuss the proposed consultation document on Wednesday May 9th 2012. If approved, there will be an eight week consultation period.
Following this, a further report will be considered by the Cabinet in December 2012 of the consultation results. The final proposed list of sites will be agreed and will be subject to a final round of consultation. The final proposals will be submitted to the Secretary of State in April 2013.
