Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, has condemned proposals by South Staffordshire Council to increase the number of pitches available to Gypsies and Travellers by almost 23% after recent evidence has come to light revealing that only 5.8% of Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople are planning to live on another site in the future.
South Staffordshire Council have launched a six week consultation, aiming to pinpoint areas across the constituency that are suitable for gypsy and traveller sites, in order to meet proposals for 33 required pitches they believe are needed over the next 15 years.
Gavin is challenging the Council’s proposals on the grounds that they are based on an outdated legal definition of the term ‘Gypsies and Travellers’. The term may soon become redundant after the Department for Communities and Local Government proposed the term be amended to stress the fact that to qualify for this status there should be a requirement to travel around. If this were to become the case existing provisions for ‘gypsies and travellers’ would be more than sufficient.
Gavin has previously attended Westminster Hall debates, on the subject of Gypsy and Traveller pitch provision and has pushed for Ministers, to make changes to planning laws.
Commenting on this Gavin said: “There is more than adequate provision for those classified as ‘gypsies and travellers.’ The change in definition of the gypsy and traveller community indicates that travellers, as their name suggests, must travel.
“The less pitches and sites we have, the less impact and incursion we have on greenbelt land. According to the Council’s proposals out of a total of 154 households, only 9 intend to travel to a different site within the next five years. This Government intends to amend the term ‘gypsies and travellers’ to mean that they must travel. I suggest that we wait until DCLG proposals have been brought in and then we can reassess the situation and work on reducing this number which is already far too high.”
“Frankly, if people wish to be classed as gypsies and travellers, most people expect them to at least travel around, not just stay in the same place. With these changes in legislation, virtually all the gypsy and traveller sites are surplus to requirement as these people do not meet the criteria of being a gypsy or traveller, so let’s start shutting them down, not opening new ones.
“I hope the District Council is going to be able to look at this new government guidance and either reduce the number of pitches or at least not create any more. I have made my views known and encourage others to do the same.”