Councils told to pay for toilets and bins at illegal gipsy sites
Councils have been urged to provide recycling facilities and toilets at unauthorised gipsy sites.
Ministers have issued them with revised guidance stating that travellers have a ‘long and proud history’ despite being ‘among the most disenfranchised and discriminated against’ in Scotland.
The document calls for cash-strapped councils to provide recycling facilities – to discourage fly-tipping – toilets and bins.
But critics have questioned the need for local authorities to pick up the ‘expensive’ cleaning bill for travellers when council budgets are already stretched.
The paper, published by the Scottish Government, sets out ways that councils can assist gipsies and the ‘settled community’.
The advice, Guidance for local Authorities on Managing unauthorised camping by Gypsy/Travellers in Scotland, says that when gipsies settle on private land without permission, the council should visit the site and landowners – and teach the latter about ‘traveller culture’ while providing information on their legal rights.
While the Government makes clear the sites are ‘unauthorised’, the document does not say they should be moved.
The guidelines state: ‘We recommend that the local authority identifies the support needs of the travellers, informs the relevant agencies [and] provides appropriate advice to the landowner regarding legal options and awareness of traveller culture.’
The advice states that if councils ‘manage’ unauthorised sites then officials should consider ‘providing bags and bins for recycling and disposal of waste, and assess the need for portable toilet facilities’.
it adds: ‘These could be costeffective ways of reducing the need to spend money on cleaning up sites.’
The guidelines say site management should not be a ‘purely local issue’ and councils should share information and cooperate on responses to unapproved camps.
last night, Tory MSP Ross Thomson said: ‘Some communities have endured repeated problems with illegal camps in recent years, with local authorities often left with expensive clean-up bills running to tens of thousands of pounds.
‘Something has to give here, because it is local residents who are suffering and hard-pressed local councils who are picking up the tab for regular clean-up bills.
‘The Scottish Government has to realise these measures will not address many of the problems which arise from these instances. Trying to pretend the status quo is working is no longer an option.’
The Government said the advice balances the rights of gipsies with the need for responsibility and regard for others. it also warned that travellers were looking at new routes across the country and urged councils to ‘plan in advance for future developments’.
The guidelines are based on aims that unapproved sites be managed to minimise disruption and that the same standards of behaviour are expected from gipsies and people living near the land.
local Government Minister Kevin Stewart said: ‘We are working towards a Scotland where the benefits of a multi-cultural country are recognised and celebrated – and gipsy/travellers are a valued part of our diverse society.
‘Travellers have a right to their traditional way of life but that right must be exercised responsibly and balanced against the rights of the wider community.’
Harry McGuigan, community wellbeing spokesman for council umbrella body cosla, said: ‘Drawing on the knowledge and expertise within local authorities, and the views of gipsy/traveller communities, has strengthened this guidance and set out roles, rights and responsibilities for all those involved with unauthorised sites.’
‘Local residents who are suffering’