Travellers
Recent developments:
Information for Travellers
Your first point of contact for help and advice on most issues should be the Traveller Liaison Officer (below).
Each of the five current Traveller sites in East Sussex is owned by East Sussex County Council. They are at:
- Robertsbridge (7 pitches)
- Maresfield (8 pitches)
- Hailsham (5 pitches with the potential to expand to 8 pitches)
- Polegate (6 pitches)
- Bridie’s Tan at Southerham Transit Site, Lewes (10 pitches)
Contact the Traveller Education Service for help with education matters: See our page on Traveller education.
For the latest news, views and advice visit the web pages listed on our page of Traveller issues – useful websites.
Information for local residents
For answers to the questions most often posed by residents concerned about the impact of Travellers on their community, see our page Frequently asked questions about unauthorised encampments.
Find out about the different types of Traveller – see our page Who are Travellers?
You can also download full details of our action plan, the legal framework and other background information. See the East Sussex Traveller Strategy.
For information and reports from central government, and news and views form the point of view of the Travelling community, see our page Traveller issues – useful websites.
Our strategy and action plan
This document contains much detailed information about the local situation, the legal framework and the procedures that must be followed by the various authorities concerned.
The whole document can be downloaded as a pdf file: East Sussex Traveller Strategy.
Contact details
The East Sussex Traveller Liaison Officer is the first point of contact for residents and Travellers, for enquiries around Traveller issues such as providing authorised sites and services, and dealing with unauthorised encampments.
The County Council, the local district and borough councils, and Sussex Police jointly manage Traveller issues and fund the liaison officer post.
Contact the East Sussex Traveller Liaison Officer.
Reporting unauthorised encampments
Please report unauthorised encampments to the relevant district or borough council:
- Lewes District Council – Mark Wilshire, tel: 01273 484368
- Eastbourne Borough Council – Paul Quanstrom, tel: 012323 415375
- Wealden District Council – Julie Wilkins, tel: 01323 443312
- Rother District Council – Richard Parker-Harding, tel: 01424 787551
- Hastings Borough Council – Martin Jenks, tel: 01424 451372
Background information
Gypsies and Travellers are ethnic groups recognised by the Race Relations Act.
Although most families are now settled in housing or on long-term residential caravan sites, they still travel for part of the year – for work or for family occasions. The extent to which they travel varies.
Since 1994 local authorities are no longer obliged by law to provide sites for Travellers. However, new legislation in 2004 places a duty on district and borough councils to assess and meet the accommodation needs of Travellers. Along with more general changes in land use, and more land being earmarked for housing, there are now too few sites available.
Partly due to the shortage of authorised sites, some Travellers live on unauthorised developments where they own the land but do not have planning permission to live there.
Travellers need planning permission for their sites. However, it is difficult to get permission and as a result there are too few sites for the numbers of Travellers, even though nationally the number of caravans has stayed about the same for over 10 years. This is one of the most important problems faced by Travellers.
Some Travellers therefore have to stay on the move. This part of the Traveller community has the poorest health and educational outcomes of any minority group and are most often the target of local hostility and misrepresentation.
Statutory agencies across East Sussex need to balance the rights and needs of both the settled and travelling communities. A transparent, fair and proportionate approach recognises both the right of Gypsies and Travellers to a nomadic lifestyle and the rights of the settled community.
