Swansea Vale Travellers on the move — but not very far at all

From the South Wales Evening Post

TRAVELLERS are being moved from their site in Swansea Vale because of a flood defence improvement scheme.

Residents living close to Mill Stream Way in Llansamlet reported vehicles moving on to the site yesterday, in order to pave the way for a new base for Travellers.

Swansea Council said the travellers at the Swansea Vale site were being moved there to allow an Environment Agency flood project to go ahead.

But some residents have complained that they were not informed of the move before work began.

One said: “If there are any works in Swansea then people have to be notified.

“But they have not done that here.

“The local population has not been consulted. There is a total lack of communication, why isn’t the council being transparent?”

Last summer, Swansea Council was ordered to spend money providing toilets, running water and electricity at the Swansea Vale site after children living there wrote to the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Keith Towler, explaining that the lack of basic facilities was having a bad impact on them.

But residents have called for the new cost of moving the travellers to be revealed.

One resident said: “How much is this going to cost? It is money which could be much better spent on education, welfare, or a hundred better things.

“Why could the travellers not be asked to move to a corner of the Swansea Vale site? It is big enough as it is.”

Llansamlet councillor Penny Matthews said: “The people of Llansamlet were told there would only be one site and that there would not be another.”

A spokesman for Swansea Council said: “The site that the Traveller family is currently occupying is part of a £7 million flood defence improvement scheme set to be carried out by the Environment Agency.

“The Traveller vehicles, along with the existing facilities they have been provided with, are being moved a short distance to an area not included in the flood defence programme.

“Consultation has already started with local businesses and residents in areas where flood risks are set to be reduced.”