Education is the best policy for travellers

Dec 11 2009 by Lex Brown, Irvine Herald

PROBLEMS with travelling people are best solved through education and persuasion rather than confrontation, North Ayrshire Council accepted this week.

The Irvine area committee heard that the town had become a traditional stopping-off point for travellers.

Numbers have grown considerably over the years but there is a minority who cause problems by leaving debris on unauthorised sites.

Clear-up costs have fallen on the landowners or the council.

North Ayrshire provides 16 pitches at a customised site at Redburn.

Travellers are now considered an ethnic minority and any attempt to treat them more severely than others is considered to be discriminatory and unlawful.

Police are often challenged for not taking action against travellers but their powers are limited.

The committee was told in a report that attempts to offer assistance to travellers in the past have not been successful.

Refuse bins and portable toilets have either been ignored or damaged.

Alternative ways of dealing with travellers have involved a multi-agency approach.

The council’s approach should be education and persuasion rather than confrontation, the report concluded.