Temporary travellers site plans for Birmingham ‘not expected to start soon’

With unauthorised encampments in parks causing disruption and clean-up costs, the council has previously said it wants to introduce a ‘negotiated stopping’ programme in a bid to improve the situation.

If the plans go ahead, unused pieces of land in Birmingham would be used by the travelling community for “short-term stays”.

The council is considering this move due to issues with the city’s two permanent transit sites, which should be available for travellers to be directed to.

But one has suffered repeated damage and vandalism while the other has been home to “long-term occupants”.

The ‘negotiated stopping’ pilot was initially set to start last June following a consultation – but the council would go on to confirm that the start date had been delayed until October.

This target month was also missed by the Labour-run local authority.

Asked for an update on the pilot this week, the council admitted it ‘does not expect it to begin soon’.

“The process for identifying and reviewing the suitability of sites for the ‘negotiated stopping’ pilot programme for travellers remains ongoing,” a council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“As a result, we do not expect the pilot to begin soon.

“A consultation with communities and businesses near the identified proposed stopping sites will need to take place, and those affected will be notified as soon as possible.”

‘Glacial progress’

The latest delay for this particular pilot programme follows frustration from Birmingham councillors over the ‘glacial progress’ of the plans.

“There’s a certain inevitability about this,” Coun Sam Forsyth, a member of the Harborne and Quinton Independents, said at a meeting last summer. “Every time we get a report, we are told work is being done and the transit sites are being looked at.

“It’s rather like night follows day and progress is glacial.

“That has been a festering sore in this city for years and years – it is time now that we dealt with this problem.

“We have a disadvantaged community on one hand not being served because the sites aren’t there and we have residents who are constantly being let down.”

Green Party councillor Julien Pritchard said describing the pace of progress as “glacial” was “actually quite generous”.

“Icebergs have been melting quicker than the council has been solving this issue,” he said. “It’s the same report every time with very little actual change or progress.

“It’s incredibly disappointing and frustrating to have the same conservation.”

A council officer blamed the previous delay on ‘site identification and resourcing’ issues at the meeting.

On the possible sites, a previous council report said last year: “An initial shortlist has been drawn up by officers.

“It is being considered jointly by planning, housing and property colleagues before wider consultation can take place on a finalised shortlist.”

The council has pledged to take “everyone’s views into consideration” over the pilot scheme, which is set to last for at least 12 months, and said it was also focusing on “community cohesion”.

It also said the ‘negotiated stopping’ approach was “favoured by Gypsy Traveller communities as it provides a balanced and sensitive approach” and “offers more flexibility”.