Travellers' rights and wrongs

David Mills
The Politics Show
South East

We discuss the plans to provide more spaces for gypsies and travellers in the region.

And... Kent County Council's leader defends his proposed solution to lorry queues on the M20 - and gauge his response to the Icelandic investment crisis.

More spaces required for gypsies and travellers

The South East is one of the focal points of Britain's gypsy and traveller communities, with 19% of England's caravan-based gypsy and traveller population.

Council advice, based on technical assessments, indicates that by 2016, Kent and East Sussex will need up to 367 new pitches for gypsies and travellers, to accommodate a growth in the number of gypsies and travellers and also to deal with the problem of unauthorised encampments.

According to government figures, 22% of gypsies and travellers in the South East have no authorised place to stop and so are legally homeless.

The options

The consultation document sets out four options, which, broadly speaking, range from creating extra capacity as close as possible to where gypsies and travellers currently live, to spreading much of the new capacity around the south east of England.

At one level, this is a classic policy debate over how to provide public services on a regional basis, working towards a policy which shares costs equitably between areas and authorities, and which enjoys broad public support across the region.

Political 'hot potato'

But issues relating to gypsies and travellers are more politically sensitive than most.

Gypsies and travellers are among the most disadvantaged groups in the region, and central government has set down rules which stipulate how local authorities must cater for their needs.

However, many gypsies still experience what they perceive as racism and discrimination, whether in access to public services or through everyday social life.

Yet many non-gypsies regard gypsies and travellers with suspicion, blaming them for bringing their problems upon themselves by their choice of a different lifestyle, often linking rises in crime and vandalism to their presence in local communities.

Locating problems

We have spoken to a lot of gypsies and their representatives in our region, and it seems clear that they want the extra spaces to be created near to where they currently live.

Given that most of the growth in gypsy and traveller communities will come from families growing up and wanting to set up their own households, it seems perfectly understandable that they would want to do that near to where their families and communities are already based.

But some local councils, and local people, have a problem with that.

Sevenoaks District Council in Kent, for instance, would have to increase the number of spaces for gypsies and travellers by 100% by 2016 if the first option was chosen.

Regional dispersal

Under other options which disperse the extra spaces across the region, they would only have to increase them by around 30%.

No prizes for guessing which option they support.

Some gypsy families occupy social housing

Reporter Helen Drew met a gypsy family on Sevenoaks who are currently living in social housing and who long to be able to return to the travelling lifestyle which some of their children have never experienced.

They support the creation of extra spaces near to where they live now, and to where their family and friends live, in the Sevenoaks area.

She also spoke to some local people to get a sense of public opinion in the town.

On Sunday, we discuss the consultation with the leader of Sevenoaks District Council, Peter Fleming and we are joined live in our studio by Joe Jones, a gypsy leader who is based in Canterbury.

Also on the programme... Operation Stack

Will building a lorry park alleviate the problem?

We also look at the way that Kent County Council has handled Operation Stack and the council's plan to alleviate the problem by building a lorry park for 3,000 trucks at Aldington, near Ashford.

Kent County Council Leader Paul Carter will join us in the studio for the second week running, as will the Labour leader on Kent Council, Mike Eddy.

Mr Eddy called for the resignations of Councillor Carter and finance cabinet member Nick Chard this week over their conduct since the collapse of the Icelandic banks, and he will chair a Cabinet Scrutiny Committee meeting on the issue next Wednesday - so it promises to be a lively occasion.

If you have any views on how the region should deal with the issue of new spaces for gypsies and travellers, how Operation Stack and plans for a lorry park have been handled, or how Kent has responded to the Icelandic investments issue, do get in touch with us by email at: [e-mail].

Watch the Politics Show on BBC One at 12:00 BST on Sunday.