Gypsy and Traveller site project suspended
09.06.10
Gypsies in Dorset await their promised homes, while the proposed Traveller’s site project is suspended by a change of Government.
Initial guidelines in 2006 stated that a provision for 425 pitches for Gypsies and Travellers should be made by the Council by 2011, failing which the government will step in. A year before the deadline, the Council has managed only 47 pitches.
Councillor Douglas Spencer of Bournemouth Borough Council said, “According to the rule if there isn’t space in the town, like is the case in Bournemouth, then the alternative is finding spots anywhere else in the County or it’s outskirts. But with the new Government coming in, the process has been stretched and we have to wait for a go ahead from them to find new sites.”
There are in total four pitches located in Dorset and plans for possible new sites are already drawn up, but whether it will see light of day is another question. Councillor Mike Evans for Dorset County Council said, “The current Government has suspended the ‘Regional Spatial Strategy document’ which deals with the production of the site and the funding to see it through so the previous number of 425 pitches is what we have for reference, but if this number were to change we’d know only once we’d conducted a survey.”
22 year old mother Margret Quinn says she approached the council to apply for a pitch but didn’t receive any help. She said, “All I want is a home to live in like everyone else. My caravan hardly has space for my two year old, my partner and me. I came here because most of my family lives here.” Gypsies at the Mannings Heath site in Poole continue to wait for the Council’s verdict on the new homes.