Norfolk County Council Have Been Found Guilty Of Maladministration By The Ombudsman For Not Finding Permanent Sites For Gypsies

Scenes of residents at an unofficial caravan site at Bowthorpe.

Birdsong accompanies these scenes filmed on a bright sunny day showing an unofficial caravan site established by travellers at Bowthorpe, Norfolk. A gypsy family took a complaint about the lack of site provision in Norfolk to the Local Government Ombudsman, Don Yardley, at the Commission for Local Administration in England. Anglia TV reporter Chris Young leafs through the report and summarises that it finds Norfolk County Council unreasonable in making excessive delays in providing traveller sites. Scenes of a woman hanging towels on a washing line with vehicle parts and other discarded objects in the foreground. Children playing together. Views of the parked caravans on site which include smart vintage vans with pots of plants lined up outside. The reporter says there are just two official sites in Norfolk, both in Norwich, for an estimated gypsy population of 300, and in West Norfolk no sites at all though six are needed. In response to this situation, gypsies move onto unofficial sites including 50 people on the site at Bowthorpe who have already been threatened with legal action. Chris Young talks to a group of travellers sitting on the grass. A man says it’s not possible to get onto a proper site and a woman says they have to keep moving on. A young man with tattoos is asked about the Council saying it is difficult to find sites. He questions the difference between the travellers and the people in houses nearby – the travellers own their caravans and people in the houses might be renting. The reporter says that Norfolk County Council is opposed to using compulsory purchase to acquire land for gypsy sites. More views of the tidy caravans and nearby trees. Ian Coutts of Norfolk County Council asks how the Ombudsman’s wife would react if he told her part of their garden would be compulsorily purchased to be used as an itinerant caravan site. He says that the Council is applying judgement, reason and balance. They are still looking to identify Norfolk sites. The reporter returns to the conclusion of the Ombudsman’s report that the gypsy families have been the victims of injustice and that sites must be found using compulsory purchase if necessary. This short video was made to be shown in a news story on Anglia Television early evening news / magazine programme About Anglia.

Keywords

Gypsies; Travellers; Traveller sites; Caravans; Compulsory purchase

Additional Description

David Yardley, the Ombudsman, is referred to as Don Yardley in this report.