A huge increase in complaints about travellers from “fed up” residents across West has sparked calls for more powers to deal with the problem more quickly.
West Lothian council faces a bill of more than £50,000 to clear up after traveller encampments at Craigswood in Livingston this summer.
In the Broxburn ward a football tournament had to be cancelled because an encampment occupied football pitches.
The council has now agreed to set up a cross-party working group to look at ways of improving existing use of powers to deal with illegal encampments by travellers.
But Conservative Angela Doran-Timson told a meeting of full council residents in her ward were “fed up”
She added: “Last year the SNT recorded nine incidents related to unauthorised encampments. Estimated costs to the council were between £14,500 to £15,000. In this financial year so far SNT have logged 31 incident complaints estimated costs between £45,0000 and £50,000. That’s nearly a fourfold increase in one-year West Lothian Council cannot sustain this.”
In a motion put forward to a full council meeting, Councillor Doran-Timson said: “Council believes the current timescale required to take legal action to move travellers on is unacceptable. Local authorities must be given the powers to act more quickly and decisively in the public interest.”
In response SNP veteran Councillor Andrew Miller called on the council to instead work with others, and the traveller community, to tackle the issues.
He said: “Whilst I understand the motivation behind Angela’s motion it does feel like a bit of a knee- jerk reaction to recent events.
“Legislative reform may well be advantageous but legislative reform takes a considerable amount of time and ignores the things we as a council could potentially do that would have a more immediate and positive effect.”
“Travellers are not going to go away no matter how much you change the law.”
He asked whether the council should have sites, or follow national good practice and hire an engagement officer, which the council does not have
Councillor Miller added: “We are rightly furious over the waste left behind when travellers move on. As far as I know travellers have no access to either domestic waste service or civic amenity sites.
“This does not excuse the mess, but it does pose the question of what we can do to help resolve issues. The recent rise in encampments is down entirely to displacement from other areas. It is an ideal time to look at our policies.”
Labour councillors recounted incidents of criminal damage and vandalism at sites around the county this year along with tales of damage to sports and toilets facilities at Craigswood.
Lib Dem Councillor Sally Pattle said: “I want to ask colleagues to be very very careful about the language they are using when they are describing the gypsy travellers community which historically has been one of the most marginalised and persecuted communities in this country and across the world. I would really like to hear people be a little bit more careful about anecdotes bandied about.
“I would like to very much thank the SNP for a very measured amendment. It is calling for us to work together to find a proactive approach. There is little point to palm a letter off on the Scottish Government. We have the power to come together working with communities in a far more effective way of preventing this kind of difficulty.”
Independent Andrew McGuire told the meeting that there was no great distance between all parties and added: “I wish they had talked about this together.”
He added that while we should respect the rights of travellers to live as they do travellers had to respect the rights of communities,
“I’m compelled to think legislation is out of date. I’m also compelled by Councillor Miller’s suggestion that we should talk to the traveller community in the first place and also think perhaps there’s a need for modernised legislation. I have talked myself into supporting the amendment.”
Labour’s Tom Conn said that even if there was cross party discussion legislation across Scotland had to change.
As part of the resolution, West Lothian Council has agreed to:
- Set up a cross-party working group with representatives from all political groups, council officers, Police Scotland, COPFS (where possible), community representatives, and members of the traveller community.
- Receive detailed reports from council officers on the current system, barriers, and potential improvements – including the need for designated sites and liaison roles.
- Review good practice from other local authorities, particularly around waste management, impact mitigation, and the provision of health and education services.
- Report back to full council with recommendations for future action.
Councillor Miller, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting: “This is about finding a fair and practical way forward that protects our communities and services while also working directly with the traveller community. By bringing everyone to the table, we can identify solutions that work in practice, not just in theory.”
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
