Travellers set up in insurer’s car park

A TRAVELLER community has set up camp in the Aviva car park in Perth amid concerns over a lack of facilities for groups moving into the region.

The group is the second community to set up camp on the outskirts of the city centre in the past week after about a dozen caravans also moved into the Food and Drink Park on Arran Road last Tuesday.

The community moved into the car park of the insurance company with the private land quieter than usual with the majority of staff working from home.

Calls have been made for better communication between the local authority and Travellers as campaigners are worried about a lack of facilities for camps in the face of a second wave of coronavirus outbreak.

Last year, Perth and Kinross Council approved a Negotiated Stopping Places pilot scheme that would give Travellers the right to occupy pre-agreed council owned land for a period of 28 days.

The scheme was meant to have launched towards the end of last year and was again interrupted by the Covid-19 outbreak.

However it’s believed the local authority had pencilled in this month for the reimplementation of the scheme.

Peter Barrett, Perth City Centre Liberal Democrat councillor and member of the national Negotiated Stopping Advisory group, called for better communication over the scheme after it emerged communities moving into the area were not aware of it.

Perth and Kinross Council said it was aware the camp had been set up. A spokesman said: “We are working with Cosla and the Scottish Government on the Negotiated Stopping pilot, which will be taken forward in the near future.”