Gypsy and Traveller site provision in London

This response to a call for evidence is made by a volunteer with the Kensington and Chelsea Social Council (KCSC) enabling Irish Traveller families on Stable Way. From 2010 – 2014 I was employed by the Westway Trust, to research the ‘unmet learning, accommodation and health needs and opportunities of families on Stable Way. From 2008-2010 I was employed by the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain, as part of a London Councils funded project to influence policy and increase the voice and participation of Gypsies, Irish Travellers and Roma in the decisions about the development of new accommodation provision in London. The last six years has provided an opportunity to view how the capital has responded in policy and practice to a clearly identified need for more sites.

The response is supported by the Stable Way Residents Association.

Our response addresses a number of the investigation topics, organised around a few main themes as follows. It has a focus on the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC).

The location of Stable Way is both ideal and a challenge. Close to a primary school, college, doctors, shopping amenities and sports centre, in some ways it could have come out of the government guidelines for good practice. However all this is over shadowed by the Westway flyover and the 24/7 traffic travelling overhead. Surrounded by garages and workshops, there is no pavement along the road leading to it. Mothers have to push prams along a bendy and pitted approach lane.

RBKCSs Strategic Response

The response by Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has been poor, with no new sited accommodation provided since officially adopting Fordhams figures in their Core Strategy, 2010. Those figures called for 6 new pitches by 2012 and a further 6 by 2017. Indeed the RBKC strategic approach has been more to move families from Stable Way into wider housing options rather than develop more appropriate site accommodation. The Action Plan accompanying the 2010 Core Strategy had two priorities:

- Strategic Priority 1: Improve the physical living conditions of the people on the Stable Way site

- Strategic Priority 2: Promote and improve access to wider housing options for the GRT Community.

In working towards these priorities RBKC has made some progress. In 2010 a minor site refurbishment was carried out. Funded by £240k worth of monies from Hammersmith and Fulham (HF) and RBKC the refurbishment provided for some site signage, an information board, new mailboxes, flower beds at the beginning of the site, electrical re-wiring and fencing.

Strategic Priority 2 does seem to fly in the face of further pitch development and perhaps is contrary to the Councils Public Sector Equality Duty. Specifically there is no evidence that both HF and RBKC are ‘[t]aking steps to meet the needs of people from protected groups where these are different from the needs of other people.’ In aiming to house the families from Stable Way, the policy is effectively not protecting a cultural imperative of sited Irish Traveller families.

The Royal Boroughs Housing Strategy 2013 -17 reference to Gypsy and Traveller community describes:

‘As with all communities living in the borough, the Council is committed to providing a safe, secure and desirable environment for the gypsies and travellers living at the Stable Way site, in north Kensington. This site is jointly provided by the Royal Borough and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. We recognise that a good quality, well managed site plays an important part in achieving better social, health and educational outcomes for the whole community. We have developed a Gypsy and Travellers’ plan with a series of actions with the full involvement of the community. This sets out how the Council is going to deliver services to this community.

The Supporting People programme funds a floating support service on the Stable Way site that works with the local community to deliver targeted services that both empower the community and increase their access to a range of housing, health and social care services.’

This review of the Housing Chapter of the Core Strategy initially suggested a decrease from twelve new pitches to two. There was no consultation with residents in deciding this new figure and residents were informed a desk-based needs assessment had been conducted.

Further, this Housing Strategy talks of an agreed plan of action with the community. The practice was very different. Indeed residents had to seek Councilor support before they even saw the action plan produced by RBKC.

The process of consultation over these matters is something that RBKC struggle with and often decisions are presented as fait accompli. There was an Inter-Agency Forum that involved Council officers/Councilors, voluntary groups and individuals and residents from Stable Way. Whilst sometimes challenging this was a progressive forum, that encouraged a real dialogue. That Forum has been suspended by RBKC without reason as to why.

Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessments

In what regards the Duty to Co-operate on assessing the needs of Gypsies and Travellers, the lack of standardised practice and guidance on this issue makes it easier for local authorities to justify the failure to collaborate. HF and RBKC are however conducting a joint GTANA, which is possibly the only example of cross Borough collaboration in London.

Despite warning in May 2012 by the sites Ward Councilor that the Needs Assesment was already behind schedule, RBKC has been slow in delivering this. In order for RBKC to fulfill their duty and conduct a GTANA the residents and supporting organisations had to lobby the Council extensively. As mentioned above, initially the accommodation need was determined solely by RBKC as a desk based piece of work. This was rejected by residents.

In early 2014 a short report on an assessment into the accommodation, learning and health needs of families on Stable Way was conducted by Westway Trust showed a need from Stable Way of the development of between 9 and 10 new pitches to meet existing need.

It is only now towards the end of 2014 that RBKC and HF are delivering their needs assessment which is planned to be completed by early 2015. Some three years after it should have been.

With regard to the issue of Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessments we wish to flag up the changes proposed by DCLG to the definition of Travellers for planning purposes and subsequently to the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites and GTANA guidance, which we believe would have extremely negative impacts on the Gypsy and Traveller community. We would urge the Housing Committee to take into consideration all the responses and evidence received as part of this investigation and make recommendations to the Mayor despite the current uncertainties regarding government guidance.

Barriers to securing land for Gypsy and Traveller Sites

The high cost of land in London and specifically in RBKC is a real barrier to developing more sited provision. Residents in the Borough are constantly reminded that there is no land in Kensington and Chelsea and that this is the most expensive land in the Country. This is exacerbated by the fact the Councils are pressured to build high density dwellings and the value for money argument is often drawn out when discussing new site accommodation. It is certainly true that you would get more flats on a piece of land than mobile homes, though again how is this meeting the Councils Public Sector Equality Duty.

A fundamental barrier in RBKC is that there has never been the political will to extend Stable Way or identify new site opportunities. On paper it can appear that there is a commitment though, residents have been firmly told there is no way that Stable Way will be extended. What is required is that local authorities recognize that failure to take seriously their equality duty and to bring about the change required means the Gypsy and Traveller accommodation issue shall remain.

Recommendations

There are some simple solutions in the Borough to meeting the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Need.

- Conversations were happening with Westway Trust to explore whether their land at the entrance to Stable Way could be purchased by RBKC to extend the existing site. This is a preferred option for some families on the site who maintain that, as they are already a part of the local community, extending the site would not have the same effect on the wider community as building another site elsewhere.

- Living conditions can be much improved by providing a footpath at the beginning of the Stable Way, improved parking and improving safety from the motorway through sound proofing and some form of net protection.

- Re-establishing the Inter-Agency Forum would help with a real dialogue with Irish Traveller families

- The establishment of site(s) in RBKC, HF and London could reduce the housing benefit costs to the local authority. A high quality mobile home would rent at between £150-£200 / family. There are very few houses in London that families can occupy for such a reasonable cost.

- To ensure a strategic approach to meeting the needs of Gypsies and Travellers, the GLA should commission a Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment, which should be based on local research and interviews with community members at local level, but with the results collated at a London wide level. This should be used to inform the London Plan and London Housing Strategy in the form of pitch targets.

- The GLA should actively support local authorities to identify land for Gypsy and Traveller sites and prioritise this together with general housing provision.

- The GLA should actively support local authorities in delivering new pitches with the support of the Traveller Pitch Fund, instead of waiting for councils to bid for this funding