B&NES to spend £1.8m on new Travellers' site - Bath

A political row has been sparked by plans to spend up to £1.8 million on a new Travellers' site in the Bath area.

The money is being set aside by Bath and North East Somerset Council at the same time as the authority looks at cutting spending on libraries, gulley-clearing and some aspects of road maintenance.

Opposition Tories say allocating such a large sum for 15 transit pitches shows skewed priorities on the part of the ruling Liberal Democrat regime at the Guildhall.

The council, which meets to finalise its budget and to confirm a council tax freeze next Tuesday, currently has no official Travellers' site, and no potential location has yet been formally suggested.

Conservative leader Councillor Francine Haeberling (Con, Saltford) said: "I think that residents in B&NES will be shocked to hear that the Liberal Democrats plan on spending such a huge amount of money on providing Traveller sites at a time when budgets are so tight.

"At £120,000 each, the amount which they plan to spend on each Traveller pitch could be enough to build a whole new affordable home for a local family instead. Or the Lib Dems could use the money to invest in local services, such as saving the mobile library service from being axed, or tackling potholes, or preventing cuts to drain and gulley-clearing.

"Yes, the council has to meet its obligations in seeking locations for Gypsy and Traveller sites, but to spend £1.8 million on 15 Traveller pitches will strike many residents as a very skewed priority at a time of austerity and budget cuts."

A total sum of up to £1.8 million is being earmarked to be spent in the next three financial years in budget papers, compared with £1.2 million building affordable homes.

The lack of an official site has been cited as a factor in the development of unofficial encampments such as a recent one at Entry Hill, while there has been a long-term Travellers' presence in Lower Bristol Road.

Council leader Councillor Paul Crossley (Lib Dem, Southdown) said the authority was unable to move Travellers from illegal pitches unless official sites existed.

"Gypsies and Travellers are among the most vulnerable members of our communities and are frequently victims of racism and discrimination.

"The previous Conservative administration clearly showed its attitude. Year after year they put off finding official sites, despite legislation requiring councils to do so.

"This negligence left us with many illegal pitches in the district and with the loss of income from council tax and rent.

"The Conservatives are proposing to do nothing, which will leave us at risk of illegal encampments. Without official pitches, we cannot move travellers on and the costs of closing illegal sites can run into many millions."

An assessment in 2007 suggested 20 transit pitches were needed in B&NES by the year 2016.