A Labour MSP has urged Fife Council to review its policy on dealing with unauthorised encampments of travelling people.
Helen Eadie has written to chief executive Ronnie Hinds after a spate of incidents in her constituency.
A large group of travellers descended on an industrial estate in Dalgety Bay before moving on to a second near Inverkeithing. Although the travellers moved on, Mrs Eadie said many people were upset at an apparent lack of action by the council.
In Dalgety Bay the owners of the land took legal action at Dunfermline Sheriff Court to have the travellers evicted.
Mrs Eadie said, “After the recent trouble we’ve had with an unauthorised encampment in Dalgety Bay, I sat down and went through Fife Council’s policy on managing unauthorised encampments.
“I wanted to see how it compared with the guidelines that were drawn up in 2004 by the Scottish Government and, quite frankly, there’s room for improvement. What the Scottish Government made clear was that the local authority, who have primary responsibility for dealing with unauthorised encampments, need to communicate clearly to the general public what their policies are and what this means for their rights and responsibilities.
“While the council’s policy should be praised for approaching the gypsy/traveller issue in a positive manner, there just isn’t enough in there about keeping the public informed and up to date. It’s also very unclear when and where these policies were last updated.”
The MSP, who represents Dunfermline East, added, “It was quite evident from the contact I had that local residents and businesses in Dalgety Bay didn’t know where they stood and what their rights were. When people feel like they’re not being listened to they get frustrated, and this ends up harming relations between travelling and settled communities.
“Reviewing policies to incorporate recommendations from work undertaken by other key partners is crucial if we are to avoid disruptive situations like this being repeated time after time. I’ve written to Mr Hinds to raise these concerns and I look forward to hearing what he has to say.’Lessons must be learned'”I think it’s crucial that genuine lessons are learned from this episode so we don’t have a repeat performance when the next unauthorised camp is set up.”
The travellers, many of them from Ireland, arrived on land off Ferris Way at Donibristle Industrial Estate at the start of last month.
Within days there were more than 50 caravans and even a pony as the travellers prepared for a festival near Edinburgh.
Some upped sticks and moved to the second encampment near Inverkeithing when they heard the court order to evict them had been granted.
Nearby residents were angry at the behaviour of some of the travellers, who used parts of the site as a toilet. Local firms Ingenico and Dynamic EMS, who jointly own the ground, were left to clear up the mess.
Many of the travellers are now camped in a field near South Queensferry.
Housing and neighbourhood services head Derek Muir said, “Fife Council is recognised as being a leading council in Scotland for working with gypsy travellers.
“Our procedures were fully updated in 2007 and have been regularly reviewed and updated since that time.
“Fife, along with several areas in Scotland is experiencing an unusual incidence of gypsy travellers visiting the area this summer, with large groups camping on occasions without permission, for short periods on areas of council and private land.
“For this reason Fife is continuing to focus on its communications strategy to improve public awareness of this community. There is clear information on Fife Direct regarding unauthorised sites and we will be adding to this as a matter of course.”
He added, “Gypsy Travellers are an ethnic minority group recognised by equalities legislation and the council’s co-operation policy. This means they cannot simply be moved on unless there are specific reasons for doing so and in these situations it is only the landowner that can take action.”
Mr Muir has now written to Mrs Eadie to explain the council’s position.