At the meeting of Dumfries and Galloway Communities committee on 19 October, Councillors will be asked to agree an Improvement Plan for the Council owned Gypsy/Traveller sites.
The ambitious Plan has been created so to meet the Scottish Government’s Guidance on Minimum Site Standards and Site Tenants’ Core Rights and Responsibilities which was published in May 2015. All Gypsy/Traveller sites should meet these standards by June 2018.
Dumfries and Galloway Council own two Gypsy/Traveller sites – at Glenluce and Collin. Councillors will be told that the facilities on our two sites have not been substantially upgraded for a number of years resulting in a backlog of maintenance and sites that fall significantly short of the new standards.
To address this, a draft Improvement Plan has now been developed. Tenants on the Gypsy/Traveller sites, Torthorwald Community Council and Old Luce Community Council have been given the opportunity to comment to ensure that it reflected the views of local communities.
Council staff have visited the sites to deliver a draft copy of the Plan to residents and to provide the opportunity for them to express their views in person. They were broadly supportive of the Council’s approach to service development and would like to be involved in future discussions regarding improvements. The residents also highlighted issues such as poor drainage, defective plumbing, lack of maintenance and inadequate electrical supply. Council officers will take these comments into account when finalising the Plan.
In June, Councillors approved funding of £85k to ensure that Health and Safety issues on the Collin and Glenluce sites were appropriately addressed. These included renewing and upgrading digital CCTV, provision of additional lighting, new signage and renewal of fencing at key locations. A number of the works have been carried out and are working to complete these improvements.
Chair of the Communities committee, Andy Ferguson, said “Earlier this year, our Council agreed to our equality outcomes (2017-2021) which included the pledge to ‘better meet the accommodation need of Gypsy/Travellers’. A few months ago, we committed to spending money to make some Health and Safety improvements at our two Gypsy/Traveller sites, but recognise that there is still work to do to improve the standards at our two sites. During their visits, Council staff spoke to the residents there to better understand their needs and to get their buy-in to our Improvement Plan. By working together, we can make sure that we address the issues being faced by our Gypsy/Traveller communities at their sites, so that we can create sites that they are proud of and that meet and exceed the national standards.”
Vice-Chair of the Communities committee, John Martin, said “Our council is committed to improving the quality of our Gypsy/Travellers sites with the ambition that by doing so, it will allow the residents to gain equal access to a range of services including health, education and employment opportunities. Our Council has created a Gypsy/Traveller Liaison Group with representatives from a range of different Council services as well as our partners (including the Police, NHS and the Community Council) so that we take a more holistic approach to improving our sites and the range of services to our Gypsy/Traveller communities.”
