Friday 2 November 2012

Travellers site row taken to civic centre - Glamorgan

From the South Wales Evening Post

ANGRY Llansamlet residents who fear a second permanent Gypsy Traveller site could be created in their community are to take their fight to the council today.


Residents will be staging a protest outside Swansea Civic Centre where members of the authority's cabinet are due to meet.

On the agenda is a discussion about the launch of a consultation process into how a shortlist for a second permanent site was drawn up.

One of the organisers behind the protest said: "There has been a site in Llansamlet since 1986 and there is also a second illegal site here.

"When the site was established in 1986 it was on a clear understanding there would be no more in the area.

"We think in their continuing search they should be excluding the area. It would be wrong and in breach of an agreement made in 1986."

Last week the authority's chief executive Jack Straw said Llansamlet was not added to a shortlist of potential traveller sites after five serving and former councillors signed a statement saying the area had been added.

A spokesman for Swansea Council said: "The cabinet meeting is to discuss the process of consultation. No decisions have been made and the meeting will not be considering any potential sites. Prior to the shortlist being published, two independent reviews are taking place to consider whether the criteria has been applied consistently at each stage of the process.

"In 1986 West Glamorgan County Council considered the location of a gypsy traveller site. Based on documents seen by the council there was no agreement at that time by the county council preventing a further Gypsy Traveller site being located in Llansamlet in the future."

The issue of location for a second site will not be discussed at the meeting, which will begin at 5pm.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.