Council decides against designated sites for Gypsies and Travellers

Caerphilly County Borough Council will not provide designated sites for Gypsies and Travellers, despite the fact that there is an unmet need for mobile homes.

A Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA), which was presented to the council’s cabinet on July 13, stated there was an unmet need for 11 mobile homes in the county borough.

Members of the council’s scrutiny committee questioned whether there should be designated sites for gypsies and travellers at a meeting on June 21. But this was not mentioned at the cabinet meeting.

The report presented to the cabinet stated that in future, a regional approach could address the lack of provision.

The GTTA included interviews with nine people who all identified as Roma gypsies.

The results show that all those consulted said they were happy where they were based and did not want to join the council’s pitch or housing waiting list.

Just 0.02% of Caerphilly County Borough’s population identified as ‘Gypsy or Irish Traveller’ according to the 2011 census.

Currently, there are three unauthorised sites in the county borough where travellers are occupying, two of which are in Ynysddu and Rhymney, while the other was not disclosed.

One application was refused planning approval but an appeal has been submitted. Another is due to be presented to the planning committee, while a third is awaiting validation. If these are refused, the council may need to find alternative sites.

These sites will be kept under review by the Gypsy and Traveller accommodation working group, which meets biannually.

The report presented to the cabinet said: “Over the last ten years on average there were one or two instances of unauthorised encampments per year taking place on public-owned land.

“Encampments taking place during this period typically lasted less than one week and consisted of two to three caravans. These encampments would have been managed by the environmental health team in accordance with the council’s protocol for managing such encampments.”

Scrutiny

At a housing and regeneration scrutiny committee meeting, Independent councillor Bob Owen asked if the local authority should provide sites for gypsies and travellers.

Cllr Owen, who represents Risca West, said: “We could collect rubbish and have cleaner sites than if we leave them to their own devices – is there an attraction to provide sites?”

He added: “It’s always a bit controversial when we’re talking about travellers, but clearly it is a worry when it’s in various wards, but a lot of the time they just move on.”

Head of housing at the council, Nick Taylor-Williams, said the findings of the survey did not indicate that the council needed to provide sites.

However, he added: “If we did, we would have a bit more control. It’s not something we are contemplating currently given the findings of the report.”

Plaid Cymru councillor Colin Mann echoed Cllr Owen’s comments and questioned if it would be “more sensible” to provide sites to avoid people residing on unauthorised sites.

Cllr Mann added: “There’s probably more demand than we’re being told. This is and can be a controversial situation and I’m not convinced we’re handling it properly by not doing anything.”