Lord calls for more land for gypsies

A senior Liberal Democrat peer has called on councils to perform their duty in identifying land for gypsy and traveller sites. Lord Avebury said that hysterical opposition from settled communities has led many councils to drop their site proposals. But the Department for Communities and Local Government circular 1/2006 obliges local authorities to grant temporary permission in areas where new sites are expected to become available. He said: More sites will reduce the inconvenience caused by travellers unauthorized developments and encampments.

Politicians playing political football with the Travelling community are to blame, according to Lord Avebury. He pointed to Communities secretary Ruth Kelly’s decision to reject a planning appeal from a large traveller site at Dale Farm in Basildon: This is a major setback, he said. The Gypsy pitches in the district are full. Basildon will be free to spend huge amounts of public money on evicting these 48 families, but the problems will simply be transferred to the neighboring authorities. For more information follow the link:http://www.building.co.uk