Traveller & gypsy sites

Gypsies and travellers' way of life may mean they travel the country staying in different locations for various periods of time in order to earn a living. This has been their way of life for many generations.

Gypsies and travellers are protected from discrimination by the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Human Rights Act 1998, together with all ethnic groups who have a particular culture, language or values.

Most gypsies and travellers living in caravans or mobile homes live on authorised sites on council owned sites or privately owned sites that have a licence.

Gypsies and travellers have rights, as have the owners of the land where unauthorised camping takes place. An unauthorised site or encampment is where people set up home on land without the landowner's permission. This can be on private or local authority land.

It is the landowner's responsibility to deal with an unauthorised encampment on their land, however we can offer advice and guidance to landowners on how to do this. 

We will however usually only address concerns about encampments on council-owned land.