Proposals drawn up by East Sussex County Council together with the police, district and borough councils suggest upgrading and developing two sites and identifying the need for at least one more. These will be considered by local council cabinet meetings throughout the summer.
Councillor Peter Jones, Leader of East Sussex County Council, says, "We have taken a strategic lead locally on what has been a difficult and sensitive issue both locally and nationally. Recent changes in the law mean that action is now essential to provide more and better managed sites in East Sussex.”
The County wants a common approach and an effective policy to tackle unauthorised camping. Proposals include the upgrading of the Southerham transit site in Lewes, the development of a two or three pitch transit site next to the Swan Barn traveller site in Hailsham and the creation of a new 10 to 12 pitch transit site towards the centre or east of the county.
A permanent Traveller Liaison Officer would be appointed to help develop an efficient and coordinated approach between all the partners involved. The job of finding the further suitable transit site would fall on the district and borough councils as they are responsible for planning, environmental health and homelessness.
The law on unauthorised camping changed in February when the Anti-social Behaviour Act was implemented. This gives the police powers to move travellers immediately off private land if the landowner makes a request and if there is a suitable site for them to go to.
A database tracking the movement of travellers across East Sussex was set up in March to find out whether further sites might be needed. The information collected over the past four months lists 27 unauthorised encampments in the county comprising an average of eight to 10 caravans staying five to six days. A number of these have been high profile sites in and around Uckfield.
These figures do not include the New Age Travellers (40 to 50 vehicles) that were camped until recently in Phie Forest, Crowborough or the encampment in Laughton on gypsy owned land.
The data demonstrated the need for a further transit site and for small areas of land to be set aside as informal stopping places to be used in exceptional circumstances. These sites would have minimal facilities and could be used for a number of days at a time.
Councillor Jones commented, "The problem of unauthorised camping cannot be settled until the county has enough pitches on transit sites. The strategy to achieve this end needs to be effective and implementation should be fair and balanced towards both residents and travellers. This is what we are trying to achieve over the coming months in partnership with local councils and the police.”
Reference:
04/244/RK
Contact the press team
