£2million was allocated for construction of a site for the traveller community but was not spent reports Aidan White

Campaigners for travellers’ rights say Newham has missed a £2 million opportunity to solve a key element of the homeless crisis by easing the accommodation problems of the Gypsy and traveller community.

Gypsies and travellers had no designated site until the Olympics redevelopment project which forced a whole community from Clays Lane to be relocated in 2007. Since then, they have used the Parkway Crescent site in Stratford which has been neglected and left to become overcrowded. There is repeated evidence that the shortage of pitches is pushing people into homelessness, often leaving families on the roadside, in caravans parked on unauthorised locations.

Hopes were raised when the London Legacy Development Corporation, then responsible for the Olympic Park developments, allocated £2 million for the construction of a Gipsy or traveller site, but in the end this was never set up.

In December Newham Council took over planning powers for the area and the £2 million allocated for a site. London Gypsies and Travellers hoped the council would respond to evidence showing a need for 23 additional pitches in Newham.

But this optimism evaporated at a meeting 10 March, where the Council said they had found no land at all on which to build a new site. Additionally, planners appeared unaware of the £2 million allocation (paid for by the Mayor of London) and they refused to reveal what parcels of land or sites had been considered or rejcected as possible sites.

Dr Nancy Hawker, Policy and Research Officer at London Gypsies and Travellers, said: “There is a housing crisis within the housing crisis. Homelessness, social exclusion and the repression of nomadic culture are having a devastating effect on Gypsy and Traveller families, including some of the most vulnerable children in the UK.

“Newham has a unique chance to take a small step that could go a long way: build parking plots and sheds for 23 caravans. That’s all it would take. Solving this special part of the crisis, and creating a diverse housing landscape, would be in line with the rich East London heritage of place-making conviviality, including the longstanding presence of Gypsy and Traveller stopping places and camps.”

Gypsies and Travellers are ethnic minorities with protected characteristics that are covered by the Equalities Act 2010. UK and EU Courts, and United Nations experts, have repeatedly found that their rights to adequate housing, to family life and to be free from discrimination are systematically violated.

One of the characteristics that the groups share is a culture and heritage of nomadism, which is often expressed as a preference for living in a caravan on a communal site. In London they are more likely to live in disproportionately overcrowded conditions and temporary accommodation. The figures are 32.6 percent for Gypsies and Travellers, compared with 19.6 percent on average for London and eight percent nationally.

Research two years ago found that two per cent of Gypsies and Travellers surveyed in London were living in “non-self-contained” temporary accommodation, which are hostels and bedsits without kitchens. This was ten times the average rate for Londoners overall.

In response to this story, Newham Council made the following statement: “The Council will be producing a topic paper on Gypsy and Traveller needs, which reflects the valued discussions that Mayor Fiaz has had with the community alongside council officers since 2019, which reflects her commitment that Newham must be a fair and inclusive borough for everyone.”

Regarding the £2 million funding the Council says this package of funding relates to one of many funding pots and financial agreements which transferred from the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) to Newham in December last year

“The Council is currently working through these funding pots and financial agreements to determine next steps, including the funding referred to by the Traveller Community.”

Post updated at 10.20am on April 8th to include comment from Newham Council.

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