Vol. 543 No. 2
72 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the action he proposes to take to stop the large scale encroachment on to public land by traveller traders; and if he proposes to change the Traveller Accommodation Bill, 1998. [26119/01]
Under the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998, a local authority has powers to remove an unauthorised Traveller encampment located within five miles of an approved halting site, provided alternative accommodation is available on any approved site to which the unauthorised encampment can be moved. Subject to the same proviso regarding available alternative accommodation, there is also a general power for a local authority to remove an unauthorised encampment where this is unfit for human habitation or is likely to interfere with public or private amenities or constitutes a health hazard.
Where an encampment is located within one mile of approved Traveller accommodation, it may be removed to a location which is not less than one mile from such approved accommodation, irrespective of whether alternative accommodation is available. These measures were designed to give assurance that areas in which official Traveller accommodation is provided should not become a focus for illegal encampments.
These legislative measures may not have fully anticipated the type of large scale movement of Travellers which have raised concerns in recent years. Nonetheless, local authorities should use to the full their existing powers under the 1998 legislation together with the range of powers they already enjoy under, in particular, litter, waste management and road traffic legislation to secure abatement of the nuisance presented by large scale illegal encampments. I am pressing local authorities to use the powers currently available to them and I am also examining the extent to which the existing legislation might usefully be amended.
The recent incidents of unauthorised encampments, in some cases by Travellers who have accommodation available to them, appear to raise issues wider than accommodation matters proper to the Housing Acts, such as issues of public order, intimidation and trespass. I will, therefore, also take up this matter with my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, with a view to exploring whether this type of incident may require to be dealt with on a broader front.
I am aware of all the powers available to local authorities in such circumstances, but surely the Minister of State is not living in such a rarified atmosphere that he is not aware of the practical problems encountered by local authorities in dealing with large scale movement of Travellers to public open spaces, football pitches and parks. The Minister of State's answer is different from the one he gave last year. Can I take hope from the fact that he recognises there is a problem which he did not envisage when the legislation was introduced, although I pointed it out to him? Is the Minister of State saying he is considering introducing legislation to control the large scale movement of Travellers who have left permanent accommodation?
There is an obligation on each local authority to implement the programmes for Traveller accommodation in their areas. That includes providing accommodation either through local authority housing allocations, special housing or halting sites. It also obliges them to provide transient sites. I referred to this on the last occasion this issue was raised here. Local authorities which do not fulfil their obligations in this area will have the problem of people parking illegally on the side of the road. If such people have genuine accommodation needs, the local authority will not be able to take action against them unless they park within one mile of existing Traveller accommodation which has been provided by the local authority.
It is extraordinary what has happened in recent months. In one case almost 600 people with more than 100 caravans moved into an area, created mayhem and caused unimaginable levels of litter and dirt. One cannot turn a blind eye to that. That is not directly related to the accommodation issue. We need to examine this issue from the point of view of Travellers with genuine accommodation needs and of those who move away from their accommodation for the summer months, ignore all levels of authority in the places where they choose to park and who cause litter problems.
This is a serious issue and we must take some appropriate action. There are measures the local authorities can take and I listed some of them. I understand the difficulties they face. In many cases unfair demands are made on housing staff in the local authorities in dealing with this issue as a result of intimidation, etc. Cases have also been reported of people who do this deliberately to extract money. We cannot stand aside without trying to find a way within reason to deal with this issue. We must be conscious of the need to provide proper homes for the Traveller families who do not have them and who are living on the side of the road, although not by choice. In my experience most Traveller women want to live in houses, while many of the men prefer to live in hardstand accommodation. We are providing the facilities they requested.
We will continue with the housing programme. However, I appeal to local authorities to be more active in implementing the housing accommodation programme for Travellers. That would greatly reduce this problem. It will be more difficult for the local authorities to achieve their objectives if transient sites are not provided.
