Attitudes towards Travellers are 'getting more racist' - Wales

From the South Wales Post

TRAVELLERS are still being persecuted and attitudes towards them are as bad as they have ever been, according to one city-based Traveller.

Dad of 11 Kieron Joyce said he was sick of the treatment he and his family received from the public, as Swansea Council continues to consider where in the city to open a second site for Travellers, in addition to the existing site at Pantyblawd Road in Llansamlet.

Last week, the authority announced five potential sites, at Heol Y Myndd in Gorseinon; the former greyhound stadium, in the Cockett ward; Milford Way, Penderry; land at the eastern gateway to Swansea Vale, Llansamlet; and land at the rear of Parc Melin Mynach in Gorseinon.

But the announcement led to protests over the weekend, with more than 100 people turning out at the Parc Melin Mynach and Heol Y Myndd sites to demonstrate their opposition.

And they were symptomatic of attitudes towards Travellers, said Mr Joyce, who has been based in Llansamlet area for almost 36 years.

He said: "It has come back to what it was like in the 1970s.

"There has been a change in attitude, people starting to call us gypos again.

"All we want is to be left alone to live our lives, but it has been getting more and more racist.

"And we are being persecuted and I am sick of it.

"We are like any other family — there are good and bad in all of them. We are not animals to be put in a cage.

"I have lived in this area for almost 36 years, and my children have gone to school in Morriston and have been treated like dogs. What do people want us to do?"

There is currently one authorised traveller site in Swansea, at Pant-y-Blawd Road, Llansamlet.

And last summer Swansea Council was told by the Children's Commissioner for Wales to install toilets, running water and electricity at a fenced-off corner of Swansea Vale park and ride used by a traveller family for around four years.

It followed a letter written to Children's Commissioner for Wales Keith Towler by one of the Traveller children, who said the lack of basic facilities was having a bad impact.

Although the site is unofficial, the family was allowed to stay in a corner of it after a 2009 court ruling.

And Mr Joyce has questioned the need for a large, new site.

He said: "I don't think you need a large site. There are not hundreds of Travellers in the area, you probably only need a plot for five or six families.

"It is interesting that this is now being talked about with an election around the corner.

"It is an easy way for politicians to get into the media. If they want their names known I'll gladly put up a poster for them, but why are they telling us what we want?

"And these things take time. They are not going to open anywhere overnight."

He added: "My family are willing to pay our way. When the electricity and water are going we will be paying for them.

"But Travellers have been persecuted for more than 10,000 years, and it is still happening. I am sick of it".

Last week, in response to concerns that the Heol Y Mynydd site had been shortlisted, Swansea Council leader Chris Holley said: "There are no Traveller families going there, full stop."

But he later insisted he had not misled anyone, saying he had not been aware of where the potential sites were.

And he has been accused of being misleading by former city councillor Ray Welsby, who used to sit on a Travellers' forum.

Mr Welsby said: "For Chris Holley to say he new nothing about it is very misleading.

"He would have known exactly where the sites were, as it was discussed by the forum. Every time there was a meeting they would have been informed.

"I feel sorry in a way for the Travellers, as Swansea Council has not kept them in touch with what is going on."

Councillor Holley has said it was possible that none of the five short-listed sites would eventually be used.

And he added: "Mr Welsby is totally and utterly wrong. We have set procedures on the forum, and we have a sub-committee on that looking at the sites.

"Mr Welsby may not be aware of the technicalities of how it works".

Meanwhile, former city council leader Lawrence Bailey has condemned any suggestion of a new Traveller site at Swansea Vale.

He said: "We have already seen the riverside western access route to Swansea Vale blighted by a travellers' site. I cannot imagine the council's development partners would be happy at the prospect of another potential eyesore at the eastern end."

And Cockett councillor Veronyca Bates Hughes has called for a public meeting to discuss the potential impact of Travellers being housed on a site at the former Greyhound stadium.

She said: "I would like to have a public meeting with the residents to discuss matters and so they can air their feelings.

"We mustn't presume Travellers are up to no good."