Brighton and Hove City Council will seek to engage with Travellers on the same terms the rest of the community, a Green councillor Pete West said in Press Release issued 15 June 2011.
As part of its ‘firm but fair’ approach to unauthorised traveller sites, Brighton & Hove City Council plans to ask travelling communities entering the city to sign up to Good Neighbour Compacts. The council is in talks with Sussex Police about how the proposals can be implemented.
”The compact is one of the proposals contained in our review of the city’s Traveller Strategy,” said Cllr Pete West, Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability. “Compacts are already used widely in social housing and we would hope that most travellers will sign up.
“We are not expecting Compacts to solve all the problems but we believe they will help. They are a new approach to a problem that no other previous administration in this city - Tory or Labour - has been able to solve.
The search for a permanent site is also an urgent priority for the council. “We will consider sensible locations where travelling communities might be allowed to stay for short period of times,” said Cllr West. “This is a better alternative than the current cat and mouse game, which sees travellers moving from site to site, sometimes causing damage as they go.
Another proposal would see greater value for money protection given to the environmentally sensitive parks and open spaces, which have been damaged by travellers.
“We will, of course, consult the resident community and the travelling community before changes are made to the Travellers Strategy, which was introduced in 2008 by the then Tory administration,” added Cllr West.
Traveller numbers this summer are not unusually high, however there is a higher number of traveller children and this has made the need for careful and sensitive handling of unauthorised sites extremely important.
”We follow the procedures outlined in Government Guidance on Managing Unauthorised Camping published in 2004 and the Travellers Strategy,’ said Cllr West.
Partnership with the Police is central to this work. A joint visit is made to any new site within one working day of the site being established in line with police protocols, and health and welfare checks are carried out.
“We have a small Travellers Team, which is very hard-pressed in the summer months when traveller numbers rise. Government spending cuts make it impossible to increase the size of this team.
“Our aim is to ensure Gypsies and Travellers are treated with the same respect and consideration as any other community,” said Cllr West. “By the same token, we expect all communities nomadic or otherwise to respect our parks and open spaces and to treat other people with respect and dignity and not to engage in anti-social behaviour.
“Unfortunately, there are a minority of travellers who behave badly, as there are in all communities.
We will always use our legal powers and resources to tackle unacceptable behaviour. This may involve powers of reasonable persuasion and application to the magistrates’ court seeking eviction from council owned and privately owned land. We always support the police where they use their powers to deal with criminal and anti-social behaviour as part of our firm but fair approach.
”While I appreciate and sympathise with the concerns of many residents about the recent impact some unauthorised encampments have been having on parks, I wish to reassure them that the council is doing all it can within the bounds of its legal obligations, and our desire to be firm but fair,” said Cllr West.
“I am greatly concerned about the politicisation of the issue by some opponents which I fear risks stoking up prejudice and racial hatred, and would ask for calm and understanding from all.”
A spokesperson for Sussex Police added: “Sussex Police is committed to reducing any tensions between the settled and traveller communities, deal with any crime or anti social behaviour amongst all groups and, when requested, consider the emergency powers that exist to require people to leave unauthorised encampments.”
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