Travellers in limbo... it’s time to find a solution

THIS week we’ve once again explored the other side of the long-running story of the travellers who want to set up a permanent base in the Ashbourne area.

We’ve had a long discussion with Dr Siobhan Spencer, who runs the Derbyshire

Gypsy Liaison Group and who volunteers to act in the interests of the travelling community in the county.

For as long as many of us can remember, there has been a family at the centre of this story that has been keen to settle down, in their caravans, and it looked at one point as though it might be coming to a head in 2020.

But the process is still ongoing.

And there’s still a family stuck in limbo, with elderly and disabled members, struggling with access to care and basic facilities.

The volunteer-run liaison group is aiming to bring an end to decades of disruption for the family, who have spent much of their lives being moved from encampment to encampment in the Derbyshire Dales.

There are obvious flaws in the Clifton site, which villagers are busy preparing a case against, but wherever this family eventually does settle, it’s clear a solution needs to be found soon.

For some reason, we’re never popular when we tell the other side of the story in this instance. You just have to scan social media to get an idea of why that might be the case.

While genuine planning reasons for opposing any site should be listened to and taken into account, the motivation and the sheer urgency behind the liaison group’s planning application should not be ignored.

Whatever you think of the family in question, whatever prejudices against the travelling community you may harbour, or your reasons for having them, there is a family behind all this that’s having a tough time.

All they are asking for is to live an easier life.