Gypsies and Travellers - Wrexham County Borough Council

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7. Where do Gypsies and Travellers live?Authorised sitesThese are areas of land designed for Gypsies and Traveller caravans. It hasplanning permission. They are residential sites and are intended for long-termor permanent occupation.Gypsies and Travellers have very strong family values and the extended familyis more usual than the nuclear family. This is one of the reasons why manyGypsies and Travellers prefer to live on shared sites.Gypsies and Travellers who stay at an authorised site must pay a licence fee tocover the cost of rent and amenities e.g. water rates, electricity and refusecollection.Transit sites are intended for short term use while in transit.Unauthorised encampmentsThis is land where Gypsies or Travellers reside without permission.Unauthorised encampments can occur in a variety of locations e.g. roadside,lay-bys, car parks. There are usually local agreements in place about howunauthorised encampments will be managed. They take into account suchthings as location and planned length of stay.HousesSome Gypsies and Travellers live in houses. In these cases they will beresponsible for all their household bills including rent or mortgage.8. Rights and responsibilitiesGypsies and Travellers have the same rights and responsibilities as any othermembers of the community under national and international law. They areentitled to protection as a minority ethnic group under the Race Relations[Amendment] Act 2000.Planning law applies equally to Gypsies and Travellers as it does to the settledcommunity6
9. Do Gypsies and Travellers work? Do they pay taxes?Traditionally Gypsies and Irish Travellers lived a nomadic lifestyle that waslinked to employment. They would work as licensed peddlers and basketmakers travelling the country to sell their wares. Others would travel followingthe seasons to take work as agricultural labourers. Today much of the fruit,flowers and vegetables available in our supermarkets are picked by travellingpeople.Nowadays Gypsies and Irish Travellers often find work as landscape gardeners,tarmacers, motor trade workers and tree fellers. Many are employed asteachers and health workers and in the sports, leisure and entertainmentindustries.All Gypsies and Travellers living on a local authority or privately owned sitespay council tax, rent, gas, electricity, and all other charges measured in thesame way as other households. Gypsies and Travellers must pay tax, insuranceand fuel duty for the vehicles they use.10. PrejudiceThe Commission for Racial Equality report ‘Common Ground’ 2006 identifiedwidespread evidence of public hostility in Britain towards Gypsy and IrishTravellers. Examples included:• Illegal ‘No Travellers’ signs in shops and pubs;• Gypsy and Irish Travellers experiencing great difficulty in gettingplanning permission for private sites;• Gypsy and Irish Traveller children being bullied and harassed atschools by other pupils; and• Growing numbers of reports of racist graffiti and attacks.11. How do Gypsies and Travellers contribute to society?Gypsies and Travellers have served as councillors and stood for election toParliament. Members of the Gypsy and Traveller community are working withministers in the Westminster government to find ways of resolving difficultiesand developing good relations.Many Gypsies served the British Army in both World Wars and two wereawarded with the Victoria Cross for bravery. Today Gypsies and Travellers areactive members of churches and undertake a wide range of voluntary work withservices like education, police and health to provide exhibitions, training events,videos and publications.There have been many famous Gypsies who have made significantcontributions to society, although their Gypsy status is not always known:Sir Charles Chaplin, Sir Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Eric Cantona, and DavidEssex. Mother Therese who won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1979 was part ofan Albanian Gypsy family from Kosovo. [Romanestan 2006, Famous Gypsies]7
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Gypsies and Travellers - Wrexham County Borough Council

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