Travellers who set up unauthorised camp come face-to-face with angry locals - Glamorgan

From Wales Online

Travellers who have set up an unauthorised camp on the edge of a South Wales village came face-to-face with residents who want them out at a public meeting.

The group moved onto a former council recycling centre in Sully, Vale of Glamorgan, in January last year, provoking anger among many residents in the village.

Mounting frustration at the lack of action to close the site led to a public meeting at the Old School Hall in the village on Friday, attended by nearly 200 residents.

Shortly before the meeting began, 10 of the Travellers arrived to present their side of the argument.

Vale of Glamorgan council officers had warned legal action to close the site would be unlikely to succeed because the authority has not yet provided an official site for Travellers.

A site was earmarked at Llangan, but this was shelved when the Labour-led council decided to scrap the Local Development Plan. A new plan has yet to be agreed.

The mood of the public meeting was made clear when Lino Scaglioni, chairman of the community council, asked for a show of hands on how many resident wanted the Travellers to move. All but one member of the audience put their hands up, although the Travellers indicated they wished to stay.

Mr Scaglioni said: “The Vale council has told us a pack of lies since the beginning. I feel it has aided and abetted the Travellers and it is a dereliction of duty.”

Councillor Bob Penrose said the former recycling centre was unsuitable for the Travellers since it was close to the chemical complex and a college which caters for children with autism.

Fellow councillor Kevin Mahoney said: “The Travellers have to stay somewhere and it is a dereliction of duty by the Vale council that it has not provided a suitable site.”

Facing the Travellers, who were sitting at the back of the hall, one resident said: “I have a question for the Travellers. When are you going to start travelling?”

In a prepared statement, one of the Travellers, Amy, said: “Of course it wold be great to have a more permanent place to live.

“However, in these difficult financial times we do not feel any need to put pressure on the council to spend much-need fund on finding and developing a permanent site.

“They have many more important things to spend there money on than us. In fact, we do not cost the council much at all, needing little or no services from them.

“We like living here and, for the most part, we have found the residents of Sully to be kind ad friendly.”

The meeting resolved to set up a committee to produce an “options appraisal” on the way forward. including possible legal action. The Travellers have been invited to nominate a representative on the committee.