Birmingham City Council gives statement on temporary traveller sites

A pilot programme, set to commence in the summer, could see ‘negotiated stopping’ sites made available in the city and would involve an unused piece of land being utilised as a temporary stopping place.

A council report recently said the authority would need to provide a pool of between 12 and 15 sites across Birmingham.

The proposals came amid the Labour-run council’s ongoing issues with its transit sites, which are authorised areas where members of the travelling community can be directed to when in the city.

They typically provide hard standing for holding caravans, a secure boundary and basic sanitary provision, while some also provide electricity.

But due to factors such as repeated vandalism and unauthorised encampments, the council’s two operational transit sites have often been closed.

“The existing provision does not meet the minimum pitch provision needs of the travelling community and there is no allocated budget for the management of the existing transit sites,” the recent report said.

The council is therefore pushing ahead with the ‘negotiated stopping’ trial to see if it could help improve the situation.

With the pilot programme possibly starting in June, there have been calls for residents and ward councillors to be consulted about where exactly these temporary sites will end up being introduced.

“A full and meaningful public consultation is the only way to ensure transparency and accountability,” Coun Adam Higgs (Conservatives, Highters Heath) recently argued.

“Residents must be included in any decisions about potential traveller stopping sites.”

But Birmingham City Council has said that it will make sure that it has taken “everyone’s views into consideration” and added there are also plans for “community cohesion”.

“This is a pilot approach so there are no sites that have been decided on yet,” a council spokesperson said.

“When officers identify a list of sites, ward members will be consulted and the cabinet member will be asked to give her final sign off.

“We will also liaise with local communities and businesses who might be impacted by negotiated stopping sites to make sure that we have taken everyone’s views into consideration and that there are plans in place to ensure community cohesion.”

‘Significant costs to the council’

The council report said that from 2018/19 to 2022/23, 502 unauthorised encampments were recorded in Birmingham – 78 per cent on publicly-owned land.

On the impact, it said: “The use of unauthorised encampments presents significant costs to the council, both in terms of managing and moving on sites and remediation to damage and refuse left following an encampment.”

On what affected the ‘longevity’ of any encampment, the report said the council, and other public bodies, had to consider the welfare of anyone who lived in the area.

“Secondly, the available powers are hampered by the lack of an available transit site to direct encampments to,” it continued.

The report added that the ‘negotiated stopping’ approach was “favoured by Gypsy Traveller communities as it provides a balanced and sensitive approach” and “offers more flexibility”.

“The council will need to assess the success of adopting the negotiated stopping approach before it can be embedded more broadly as a way forward,” it added.