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Who are the Gypsies and Travellers?
Romany Gypsies have lived in Britain for hundreds of years. Irish travellers also have a long tradition of travelling in Britain. More recently people known as new travellers have pursued a nomadic tradition. Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers are a recognised ethnic group and are protected under Race Equality legislation.
Does the Council have to do this?
The Housing Act 2004 requires Councils to assess the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers. We also have to help meet that need by identifying sites in local planning documents. If we fail to identify sites the Government can direct us to do so.
More generally, the Council has a duty to promote good race relations, equality of opportunity and community cohesion. Providing a transit site helps fulfil this duty to the Gypsy and Traveller community.
We want to do our bit to ensure that Gypsies and Travellers have access to the facilities they require, such as a transit site.
What will the benefits be?
The key to reducing unauthorised camping is to provide authorised sites. Unauthorised sites cause community tension. An authorised site should prevent unauthorised camping and enable the Police to deal swiftly with any unauthorised sites that do occur.
In addition, Gypsies and Travellers experience the worst health and education of any disadvantaged group in Britain. Providing more authorised sites nationally will help to tackle this, improving their quality of life and ultimately reducing demands on health services.
Why do it now?
Making this provision for this group fulfils a duty that we have, it’s the right thing to do. Bournemouth currently has no provision. The Government is encouraging this provision by making funding available. If we identify a site that meets the Department for Communities and Local Government’s (CLG) criteria by the end of July, we can apply for this funding to convert that site and make it ‘fit for purpose’. If we don’t progress a site we could be forced to do so by Government and have to fund this ourselves.
What are the CLG criteria?
There are a whole host of criteria, covering site layout & access, on-site facilities, health & safety, and individual pitches. The full criteria can be found on the Communities and Local Government Website.
What is a transit site?
This is a site that Gypsies and Travellers can use for a short period of time while they are travelling. They may stay for days or weeks, up to a maximum of three months. The site will have sanitation facilities, power supply and a play area.
Who would manage the site?
The site will be developed and managed by our housing partner, Bournemouth Churches Housing Association. This means they will design and build the site and then be responsible for site maintenance, arranging access to the site and ensuring it is well run. They will deal with any problems that occur.
Will the site be free for them to use?
No, anyone using the site will have to pay rent. A licence agreement will be in place for each pitch which sets out the charge, how long they can stay and the basics terms and conditions. Anyone staying beyond their agreement, or not keeping to the agreement in terms of behaviour, will have to leave.
What will you do to stop travellers pitching where they like?
Having an authorised site should prevent this from happening in the first place. The introduction of a transit site means that the Police will have greater powers to move on immediately any travellers that pitch elsewhere, and direct them instead to the transit site.
What happens if the site is full?
Recent experience shows that we have relatively small groups on unauthorised sites, so in the main we suspect that this site (for up to 10 pitches) will be adequate. It could also be the case that for some periods of time the site is not occupied. Our neighbouring Councils should also be providing sites. A network of such sites in the local area should adequately cater for demand.
What happens if travellers leave the site in a mess, like we’ve seen before, who will clean it up and pay?
An advantage of having a site manager means that this is less likely to happen than on an unauthorised site. Anyone who does behave in this way would not be allowed to use the site in the future.
Remember that at present the Council is spending money on dealing with unauthorised sites – legal costs and clean up costs – and these costs should disappear.
What will be done if the travellers overstay the maximum time allowed on the transit site?
They will be evicted.
Where will the site be?
That is yet to be decided, but the Council’s preferred site is close to the Ringwood Road, at Longham.
Isn’t that land contaminated and too close to pylons?
We are carrying out various environmental tests to check the state of the land. This will help us identify the work required to make sure that any contamination is cleared now and for the future. The costs of dealing with any contamination can be covered as part of the grant from Government to develop the site.
We will also ensure that the site is located an appropriate distance from the pylons.
We can only develop a transit site, like any housing, where it is safe to do so.
Is it dangerous for local people and walkers if you carry out decontamination work?
No, we would ensure that this does not pose a risk.
Where else have you considered?
Three other sites were considered – one at Queen’s Road, adjacent to the Wessex Way, another on land by the nursery at Northbourne roundabout and the third near Yeomans Industrial Park.
Why have these been discounted?
These are not our preferred sites because we feel that the Ringwood Road site more closely matches the CLG criteria. In terms of access and impact on neighbouring residential properties this is the most suitable site.
What happens now?
We will be consulting with the Gypsy and Traveller community and local residents before making a final decision. Consultation will take the form of open days where we will show the public the plans and listen to their views. The public can also feed their views in through enquiries@bournemouth.gov.uk. Local area forum meetings will be discussing this issue over the next few months.
When will the site be open?
The timescale is not yet certain. After the investigations and consultation we would need to apply for the funding, secure planning permission and then, assuming both processes are successful, develop the site. When we have more details we will let people know.
What will the site look like?
We will design the site well and use the experience gained nationally in other successful schemes. We will also consult with those who will use it and those who live locally to make sure it is as attractive, effective and sustainable as possible. Basically, hard standings will be provided and amenity blocks for sanitation. It will in many ways look just like any caravan / mobile home site, of which there are many in the area.
What about anti social behaviour?
The Council and Police have a range of powers to deal with anti social behaviour which apply to all communities. We will use these powers to tackle any anti social behaviour that arises on the site, as we would in any community.
A recent study has found that of those domestic householders interviewed before and after the creation of a site, most had no specific complaints and many acknowledged that their previous opposition had been groundless.
| Contact details | |
|---|---|
| Bournemouth Council | |
| Town Hall, Bourne Avenue Bournemouth BH2 6DY | |
| Tel: 01202 451451 | |
| Fax: 01202 451000 | |
| Minicom: 01202 454728 | |
| Email: Enquiries | |