Residents invited to take part in design of permanent Traveller site in Brighton & Hove

From Brighton and Hove Council

Residents are being invited to drop-in sessions as part of the design for the much-needed permanent Traveller site in Brighton & Hove.

The consultation follows an exhaustive search for a permanent Traveller site to tackle the shortage of pitches for Travellers that leads to unauthorised encampments. The site will be paid for by a £1.7 million government grant.

More than 50 sites, some in Brighton & Hove and some in the national park, were evaluated in the survey with Horsdean found to be the most appropriate location. The survey used a methodology agreed by both Brighton & Hove City Council and the South Downs National Park Authority.

The council wants to consult with residents interested in the project and look at issues such as site management, practical measures to help improve relations between Travellers and the settled community and a design that will minimise the site’s visual impact.

The drop-in workshop sessions are open to anyone and offer an opportunity to sit at five different tables and talk about a variety of topics relating to the site.

Both sessions are at Patcham Community Centre, Room 2. The first session is on Thursday 21st June, 14.00 to 19.00 and the second is Saturday 23rd June, 10.00 to 15.00.

Cllr Pete West, chair of the environment & Sustainability Committee, said:

“Now that the long-awaited decision has been taken to create a permanent Travellers site at Horsdean we want as many people as possible to help us design the site. First and foremost this new site will help ease the problem of unauthorised encampments caused by a shortage of official pitches in the city.

“After an exhaustive search that included 50 other locations across the city under a methodology jointly agreed by us and the South Downs National Park Authority Horsdean was identified as the most appropriate

“These two drop-in sessions are a chance for everyone interested in the new site to help us design how it’ll be managed and how it will look.”