Site for Gypsies and travellers in Sedbergh a ‘godsend’, says parish councillor

Travellers on Bainbridge village green last year.

By Pip Pointon, ARC News Service

The 21-day site for Gypsies and travellers at Scrogg Bank Field, Cautley Road, Sedbergh, has been a complete godsend, Sedbergh parish councillor Ian McPherson told the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s planning committee on Tuesday.

Cllr McPherson, who has been a member of the Travelling and Settled Community Respect Group for ten years, proposed that only a five-year temporary permission should be granted for the site and this was unanimously approved.

The application was for permanent permission which Sedbergh Parish Council objected to because, it said, this would enshrine the use of the site by Gypsies and Travellers for the long-term.

The provision of the site covers the period when Gypsies and Travellers are going to and returning from the Appleby Fair.

Cllr McPherson told the committee: “This field over the last five years has been a complete godsend.

“It means that instead of Travellers being here, there and everywhere and putting their horses to graze on the school playing fields and using ditches [as latrines] has largely ceased. Without this field it is felt that matters would return to the bad old days.”

The committee was told that when in use the site for no more than 100 caravans at one time will be supervised at least twice a day by South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) officers and the Police.

An enclosed skip and bin bags will be provided and the SLDC will clear away litter and waste afterwards. Portable toilets will be provided.

John Bucknall, a trustee of Pendragon Estates which owns the two farms adjoining the site, told the committee: “The Gypsies have their own codes of cleanliness. Some, in preference to using the sanitary facilities provided on site, use the hedgerows, adjacent fields and our farm entrance as latrines.”

He recounted how last year one of the tenant farmers found teenagers had driven a ewe into a gill and appeared to be attempting to steal two lambs. Some horses had also been put to graze on a farmer’s field.

“Grass is gold. These are our best meadows,” Mr Bucknall said.

“We live in a state of virtual siege in the house and on the farm while the Gypsies are encamped. We cannot leave house or farm unmanned at any time and we feel at constant risk of intimidation and trespass. Our tenants are in constant fear of stock being injured or stolen,” he added.

He understood the need to provide such a site and appreciated the achievements of the public meetings. He said he had been able to discuss their difficulties with Billy Welch, the Gypsy leader [Shera Rom] at one of those meetings.

“As the conditions of the fair constantly change, I support the five-year temporary permission,” he said.

Richmondshire District councillor Yvonne Peacock commented that Sedbergh was fortunate to have such a site. She explained that Bainbridge village green was now a managed site for the Gypsies and Travellers over the period of the Appleby Fair when there was no charge to use the public toilets.

Residents did often feel intimidated she said and found it difficult when generators were being run until midnight.

Eden District councillor Ian Mitchell did not take part in the discussion and did not vote as he is a member of the Appleby Fair Multi-Agency Coordinating Group.

This year Appleby Fair begins on Thursday 6 June and ends on Wednesday 12 June.