Derbyshire Dales District Council is expected to shortly put forward a list of possible temporary Traveller sites for the region after long-running struggles and disputes during the authority’s efforts to find suitable locations.
The announcement by the council – which is led by the authority’s Progressive Alliance group of Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green Party councillors – follows numerous disputes over potential Traveller sites in areas including Bakewell, Rowsley and Ashbourne and a temporary site at a Matlock Bath car park.
Media reports have also previously revealed that council officers have made repeated efforts to identify suitable sites and have been thwarted by planning technicalities, community resistance and other obstacles.
District Council Leader, Cllr Stephen Flitter, who is also leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, said: “Previous administrations of this council struggled for decades to meet their responsibilities to our communities.
“When the new Progressive Alliance came into being just over a year ago we pledged a new approach by taking the politics out of this very sensitive issue and that’s exactly what we have done.”
The council’s cross-party Gypsy and Traveller Working Group will be putting forward a list of possible temporary Traveller site locations for consideration at a special meeting of the council’s Community and Environment Committee, on July 22, after progress was delayed during the build-up to the General Election.
That meeting will then agree which of the identified sites – which will all be published online by July 12 – should go forward for public consultation before any final decisions are taken.
In addition to the site list, the Working Group will be recommending the adoption of a new code of conduct for Travellers and caravan occupiers.
One recent well-documented attempt to find a suitable site reportedly failed at an advanced stage when the owner of the Woodyard, near Cromford, opted to sell the land to a third party after spending years lobbying the council to develop a Traveller site.
Also, an external, independent report, carried out by the East Midlands Council on behalf of the council, investigated events surrounding the authority’s assessment of a potential Traveller site at Hasker Farm, near Carsington Water, from May 2022 and February 2023.
The report partially upheld four of ten allegations including; A lack of transparency and good governance; Dealing with an individual despite a prior knowledge of convictions and of involvement in organised crime; A lack of enforcement of planning permission breaches; And finally missing paperwork and a lack of transparency.
Cllr Flitter previously stated this related to a complaint which covered a time-scale that principally fell under the previous administration and the progressive administration has already taken action to agree a new more transparent process of meeting the accommodation needs of Travellers and there has been much to learn from this complaint.
The council has also strengthened its position after it approved recommendations from its cross-party Traveller Working Group to introduce a new community consultation process, new evaluation criteria for sites, the appointment of land agents to search for viable plots and funding for a dedicated officer to assist the process.
Derbyshire Dales District Council was also previously unable to secure a site known as the Woodyard, off the A6 through Homesford, near Cromford, after it had spent money assessing this site’s viability only for the location to become unavailable for the authority to buy or rent as a permanent Traveller site.
Residents have also raised concerns about the possible extended use of Matlock Bath station car park which has been hosting members of a homeless Gypsy family for over a year-and-a-half despite an initial arrangement which was expected to expire in January 2023.
Cllr Flitter added: “There are no easy answers, but the cross-party Working Group will be endorsing a consultation in which to give local people their say on a proposed list. They will take into account the feedback they receive.
“We absolutely recognise that the current situation – where Traveller families, to whom we owe a legal homelessness obligation, are in encampments in Matlock and Matlock Bath – is unsatisfactory for them and the wider communities involved.
“But we are a responsible council, determined to deliver for all parts of the communities and groups we serve”
The council has stated that it is widely accepted there is a national shortage of authorised sites for Gypsies and Travellers and this has led to an increasing number of both unauthorised encampments and unauthorised developments.
