Are there enough authorised Traveller sites in Lancashire?

From the Lancashire Evening Post

With a spate of Travellers’ camps being set up on private land in Lancashire, Neil Docking finds out if there are enough sites available in the county.

Two groups of Travellers parking on land across Lancashire have sparked a debate over whether enough authorised sites are available in the county.

Last Wednesday a group took over the gated and fenced Bluebell Way park and ride site in Fulwood, Preston, owned by Lancashire County Council.

They were evicted on Sunday but left behind bags of rubbish and the charred remains of bonfires.

The Evening Post has also reported that families set up camp on the car park of Preston Healthport centre in Vicarage Lane, Fulwood, and then moved to Asda’s car park and Midgery Lane.

In a separate incident, about a dozen caravans stayed for a week on the car park outside the Transcontinental Group building in Oliver’s Place, Fulwood.

Now a large group thought to have been moved on from Preston have settled on the old Vernon Carus site in Factory Lane, Penwortham.

According to the latest official data, Lancashire County Council provides 47 authorised ‘pitches’ for Travellers, which can house 74 caravans.

This includes 12 pitches for 24 caravans at the Leighton Street Caravan Site in Preston, which was opened in 1967, and 20 pitches for 20 caravans at the Mellishaw Caravan Site in Morecambe, which opened in 1982.

The Gypsy Council said an area designated as one pitch generally constituted space for one static caravan, one touring caravan, two parking spaces and a utility block, but this definition can vary.

The organisation, set up to represent Travellers and support their equality, educational, health, planning and human rights needs, said the Government accepted there were not enough authorised sites for Travellers.

Joseph Jones, the Gypsy Council’s chairman, said: “I should imagine it will be the same in Lancashire as it is everywhere else.

“We’re coming to the end of a 12-month transition period, where the Government gave all the councils across the country until March this year to outline what their future provision is going to be.

“Quite a few councils have been re-doing their figures for their Gypsy Traveller Accommodation Assessments to try and get a handle on what they need.

Some perhaps may be conveniently trying to reduce the amount they need on paper, but they are never going to get rid of the actual need because whatever your quota is, in reality these are human beings, and if they don’t have enough pitches in the area they are going to get a lot of unauthorised encampments.”

He said councils had also been encouraged to provide ‘transit provision’ outside of their normal capacity, so that groups of Travellers visiting an area for work, or reasons like a family illness or a wedding, would have a place to use.

Mr Jones added: “Local councils have a legal obligation to every section of society.”

But Lancashire County Council leader Geoff Driver said increasing the number of authorised sites would not stop certain Travellers from breaking the law.

He said: “These particular people who were on the car park off Bluebell Way don’t want to go on our sites.

“They just want to put their caravans on other people’s sites where they don’t have to pay and then leave somebody else to pay for cleaning up the mess, which is why we acted very quickly to get rid of them.

“They weren’t just trespassing, they had obviously broken in, and it’s easier to get rid of them if they have broken in.

“It’s outrageous what they do. They have no consideration for anybody but themselves.”

South Ribble Council said a group of around 40 adults and children living in 20 caravans and support vehicles had arrived in Penwortham.

A council spokesman said: “They have indicated that they would like to stay on the site for one or two days.

“It is private land so we identified and notified the land owner.

“We have assessed their welfare needs and a couple of them have got particular needs at the moment we are looking after.”

There will be a meeting today between the land owner, the council and the police, and the council has sent leaflets to residents in the area to explain the situation. Lancashire Police said when they were made aware of unauthorised Traveller sites, they made every effort to work with the land owners and partner agencies to find an ‘agreeable solution’.

A police spokesman said: “There are many occasions where the presence of Travellers on private or public land is a civil matter and no criminal offences are committed.

“In these situations we continue to work with the land owners to guide them through the legal processes involved in evicting what amounts to trespassers on their land.

“On occasions where the landowner has taken reasonable steps to ask the Travellers to leave, there are six or more vehicles on the land and criminal offences of causing damage or threatening behaviour have been committed, then the police can use their powers under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act and issue a direction to leave the land.

“Our aim is to work with all parties to develop a solution to all problems which occur.”