Wednesday 18 April 2018

Draft letter to Boston Borough Council


Churches Network for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma



Mr Michael Cooper
Municipal Buildings
West Street
Boston
Lincolnshire



Dear Mr Cooper,

Illegal traveller encampments to face prison or £2k fine”

We note from an article in the Boston Standard on 4th April that Boston Borough Council has experienced problems with unauthorised encampments of Gypsies and Travellers and has consequently sought and been granted powers to compel those involved in future to move on or face either prison or a fine.

We do appreciate, as do many in the Gypsy and Traveller communities, that nobody wants messy and anti-social neighbours. However, we would respectfully point out that not all encampments are so undesirable, and that the major problem with your policy is that those encamped may not have anywhere that they can move on to, owing to the widely acknowledged under-provision of sites throughout the country.

We suggest that consultation with the Lincolnshire Gypsy Liaison Group might in future enable you to come to agreed solutions without the need for a constant round of evictions, leading to increased community tensions. Where Gypsies and Travellers have been allowed to camp peacefully for short periods in areas known to us, good relations have been established with both local residents and the local authority, and people have moved on when the reason for their presence no longer prevails. In Romani, New Traveller and Irish Traveller cultures, there are recognised techniques for ensuring that an encampment does not scar the local landscape. There are also local authorities who have, by consulting with those arriving in this way, been able to ensure that rubbish and litter is avoided or kept to a minimum.

It is our view that tension and hostility is stoked up rather than ameliorated by policies and news stories couched in wholly negative terms. In our experience, this rebounds especially harshly on Gypsy and Traveller children resident in the area and seeking to gain an education there. Resident adults who are responsibly fulfilling their roles in your community will be less likely to self-identify as Gypsy or Traveller, with the consequence that positive experiences of interaction with these minorities will go unnoticed and unappreciated.

Should you wish for more information about any of the points raised here, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are a national network of ordained and lay Christians from a variety of different denominations, committed to aiding understanding and acceptance of Gypsies, Travellers and Roma.

Yours truly,

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