Calls for action on Sully Traveller site - Glamorgan

From the Penarth Times

PUBLIC meeting is to be held over the Traveller site in Sully.

Fifteen months after ten caravans, a horse transporter and several vehicles moved in to the former recycling centre on Hayes Road, residents have had enough of the situation – fearing the effect on tourism and house prices – and local councillors have heeded their calls for action.

In November last year Sully councillor Bob Penrose raised the issue as a matter of urgency at a meeting of the environment scrutiny committee, recommending that the Vale of Glamorgan Council Cabinet establish a permanent and official Traveller site as soon as possible – as also demanded by Welsh Assembly legislation.

But nothing has been done since to indicate that the local authority will consider addressing the situation prior to the publication of the Local Development Plan (LDP), which is a year behind schedule after being scrapped by the current Labour administration.

The council hope to present the replacement plan for statuatory consultation this autumn and submit the final plan for review in 2017, believing it to be the “appropriate mechanism” for identifying suitable locations for the Travellers.

But councillors and residents alike say that is too long for the Travellers to remain at the former tip, located next to a chemical complex, Beechwood College for autistic youngsters, and near the local Ty Hafan Hospice.

Cllr Penrose said ideally the council would re-consider its position, pointing to developments at Barry Waterfront which are underway despite being included in the LDP.

He said: “Residents have been quite tolerant of the situation but they are suffering while the Vale drags its feet on this.

“Everyone wants answers from the council, including the Travellers I would imagine.

“Locating them on a former civic amenity site which could very well be contaminated is hardly caring for them.

“They need sanitised facilities and suitable amenities.

“Unfortunately the residents of Sully are also suffering in the interim.”

Invitations to attend the meeting have been sent to council cabinet members, council officers, Sully community councillors, local MPs and Assembly Members, and other local dignitaries.

Second Sully councillor Kevin Mahoney urged Sully residents to attend in numbers.

“A public debate is needed to show the strength of feeling about the matter,” he said.

“The Vale council needs to know it can’t ignore this for much longer.

“We want to give Sully residents the platform to do that. The meeting will afford residents the opportunity to voice their objections, questions and concerns.”

Residents have been upset since the Travellers first moved into the civic amenity site in January 2012, just days after Biffa vacated it following the end of a contract with the local authority.

More than 50 people attended a Sully Community Council meeting shortly after – including members of the travelling community – but when it was pointed out their occupation of the site was illegal, head of visible services at the council, Miles Punter, said any legal action to evict them would fail because the Vale does not have a designated site for Travellers.

Sully resident of 26 years, Jeff Dunn, said the Vale Council had a lot to answer for. “I can’t stress how angry I am about this situation,” he said. “Sully is a nice village and no-one here deserves to have a sub-standard style of living inflicted upon them. I will swear to my dying day that the previous Conservative authority placed the Travellers where they did on purpose.

“But the new Labour authority have done precious little to improve the situation.

“They have a duty of care to the Travellers but they also have a duty of care to the people of Sully.

We are sick and fed up.

“We have councillors who are doing a sterling job fighting this but they are outnumbered. I hope the parties responsible are kicked into touch afterwards for what they have done, or what they have not done more like.”

Lino Scaglioni, chairman of Sully Residents’ Association and Sully Community Council, said feelings were very strong: “The councillors have the support of the community council and I think we should all make our voices heard at the meeting. It should be a lively event.”

Rob Thomas, director of development services at the council, said there was no change to its stance on the subject at present.

He said: “Work on the provision of a site or sites for Travellers in the Vale will be progressed as part of the ongoing work on the LDP. We will hopefully be in a position to consult on the LDP in the autumn.”

The public meeting will be held on Friday April 19, at 7.45pm in the Old School, South Road, Sully.