£2m to create new gypsy communities
By Jonny Muir
THE Government has handed Fenland District Council nearly £2.2 million to build two traveller and gypsy communities.
The authority will use the money to purchase land and create 29 new pitches.
Meanwhile, Peterborough City Council has been told it must also provide an additional 13 to 15 pitches.
The targets have been imposed by the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA), following the findings of a Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment in the East of England.
Consultants concluded there was a need for an extra 1,220 residential pitches and 300 "transient" pitches between 2006 and 2011.
Fenland District Council bosses are engaged in "commercially sensitive negotiations" with private landowners to purchase two plots of land.
Today, spokesman Terry Brownbill said the gypsy community and residents living close to allocated sites would be fully consulted before the sites were created.
Mr Brownbill added: "We do not know when the process will start because anything could happen in the negotiations."
There are already 66 traveller pitches spread across five sites in Fenland District Council's administrative area.
It is hoped a pot of Government money, totalling £5.7 million in the East of England, will reduce unauthorised camping.
This year, travellers have pitched up on Peterborough's River Nene Embankment, on a car park at Ferry Meadows Country Park and on former Parkway Sports and Social Club playing fields, near Eye.
There are about 117 caravans on two city council-managed sites, in Norwood Lane, Paston and Oxney Road, Eastern Industry.
In addition, there are nine private sites established on land owned by traveller families, which a recent survey revealed were home to 30 caravans.
Last year, the city council was successful in securing two site improvement grants – £483,850 for Oxney Road, where work began last autumn, and £431,402 for Norwood Lane, where discussions are continuing on the best use of the funds.
Council spokesman Mike Lennox said: "There are currently no transit or authorised short-stay sites in Peterborough and no sites have been identified for the proposed additional pitches.
"When potential sites are identified, they will be subject to a rigorous planning and public consultation process."
Minister for Gypsies and Travellers Iain Wright said: "The problem of unauthorised camping will only be tackled through sufficient site provision, coupled with effective enforcement.
"Providing more authorised sites reduces the cost to taxpayers of costly enforcement action, and makes it quicker and easier to take action where unauthorised camping does take place."
THE Government has handed Fenland District Council nearly £2.2 million to build two traveller and gypsy communities.
The authority will use the money to purchase land and create 29 new pitches.
Meanwhile, Peterborough City Council has been told it must also provide an additional 13 to 15 pitches.
The targets have been imposed by the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA), following the findings of a Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment in the East of England.
Consultants concluded there was a need for an extra 1,220 residential pitches and 300 "transient" pitches between 2006 and 2011.
Fenland District Council bosses are engaged in "commercially sensitive negotiations" with private landowners to purchase two plots of land.
Today, spokesman Terry Brownbill said the gypsy community and residents living close to allocated sites would be fully consulted before the sites were created.
Mr Brownbill added: "We do not know when the process will start because anything could happen in the negotiations."
There are already 66 traveller pitches spread across five sites in Fenland District Council's administrative area.
It is hoped a pot of Government money, totalling £5.7 million in the East of England, will reduce unauthorised camping.
This year, travellers have pitched up on Peterborough's River Nene Embankment, on a car park at Ferry Meadows Country Park and on former Parkway Sports and Social Club playing fields, near Eye.
There are about 117 caravans on two city council-managed sites, in Norwood Lane, Paston and Oxney Road, Eastern Industry.
In addition, there are nine private sites established on land owned by traveller families, which a recent survey revealed were home to 30 caravans.
Last year, the city council was successful in securing two site improvement grants – £483,850 for Oxney Road, where work began last autumn, and £431,402 for Norwood Lane, where discussions are continuing on the best use of the funds.
Council spokesman Mike Lennox said: "There are currently no transit or authorised short-stay sites in Peterborough and no sites have been identified for the proposed additional pitches.
"When potential sites are identified, they will be subject to a rigorous planning and public consultation process."
Minister for Gypsies and Travellers Iain Wright said: "The problem of unauthorised camping will only be tackled through sufficient site provision, coupled with effective enforcement.
"Providing more authorised sites reduces the cost to taxpayers of costly enforcement action, and makes it quicker and easier to take action where unauthorised camping does take place."
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