Wrexham
Posted on Thu 19 June 2008
Project: Gypsy & Traveller Inclusion Project
Incidents of miscommunication and misunderstanding between Gypsy & Traveller site residents and the local authority are being addressed by the FST-funded Inclusion Officer who is working to set up a Residents Association and a local Gypsy & Traveller Forum.
Summary
Priority: To support the social inclusion into the wider community of Asylum seekers, Refugees, Migrant Workers and Gypsy and Traveller People and their families.
About
The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) is in the process of drafting good practice guides on Gypsy & Traveller site management and design. The Fair Share Trust-funded Inclusion Officer has written to Wrexham County Borough Council’s housing department, the Gypsy & Traveller team and to the Inclusion Unit of the Welsh Assembly Government, providing information for the guide and supporting its development. For example, based on the FST Inclusion Officer’s advice, the issue of ‘separate occupation’ had been amended by WAG and viewed differently by the local authority and residents of some of the sites: ‘to ensure compliance with fire regulations every caravan, trailer, chalet or park home must not be less than six meters from any other trailer, caravan, chalet or park home that is occupied separately’. The understanding had been that members of the same family could fit two trailers onto the new plots in one site, which were not necessarily six metres apart, as families tend to use multiple trailers as part of one ‘household’. Additionally, the refurbished plots were larger and the plots had not always conformed to fire regulations, leaving residents with the impression that two trailers could be accommodated on each plot. Despite the advocacy of the Inclusion Officer to favour the families’ preferences, the guidelines have been clarified in favour of health & safety considerations.
This clarification has resulted in some distress and inconvenience for the Gypsy & Traveller communities, a misunderstanding that could have been avoided if there had been better communication between site residents and the local authority. This highlights the need for a Residents Association and a local Gypsy Traveller Forum, so that these issues could have been raised, and the policy scrutinised, by these communities. The Inclusion Officer is currently working on plans to establish ways for the voices of these communities to be heard, with the benefits of capacity-building, empowerment and engagement being felt both by the authorities and the community members themselves.
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