Gypsies and Travellers slam government’s ‘populist’ warning on unauthorised sites

From the Irish Traveller Movement In Britain

Gypsy and Traveller organisations have strongly criticised Communities Secretary Eric Pickles call for local authorities to clamp down on unauthorised Traveller sites over the August bank holiday weekend, describing it as populist and in danger of leading to the further discrimination of these communities.

In a letter sent to Pickles and Under Secretary Andrew Stunell, Gypsy and Traveller organisations said:

‘We are deeply concerned at the unbalanced messages Minister Pickles and Stunell have given, which are populist and could potentially have a negative impact on perceptions of Gypsy and Traveller communities and community relations. We are also very concerned at the ambivalent messages it gives local authorities and that it could undermine the work they are required to do to bring forward new residential site provision for Gypsies and Travellers.’

‘The message from the Ministers clearly indicated that unauthorised encampments and developments by Gypsies and Travellers, and its impact on the settled community, is the major issue, and should be singularly addressed by enforcement. However, the Ministers failed to address the root cause of such unauthorised encampments and developments, being the national chronic shortage of Gypsy and Traveller sites due to hostility and discrimination against these communities in planning process at the local level.

We call upon the Ministers to take such pro-active measures with Council Leaders to encourage them to address the root cause of Gypsy and Traveller unauthorised sites and focus on making provision, rather than costly enforcements which offer no long term sustainable solution.’