Factores genéticos

14.5 In total, ten interviews were achieved with yard-based Travelling Showpeople. Although all households on the yard were consulted, because of the

statistically low number of interviews, the views of residents are discussed as real cases rather than as indicative percentages.

14.6 All households provided details about how many living units and vehicles they possessed. Eight households had 1 living unit and two households had 2 living units. These tended to be larger static units rather than smaller

trailers/tourers. Most households had more than one vehicle (including vans and lorries) with the average number being 2. This number of vehicles is lower than that of Travelling Showpeople in other assessments the Study Team have been involved in. This may be because three of the ten households were retired or no longer working due to health reasons. In addition, five respondents reported that they had a catering unit for when they were working on fairgrounds, rather than a number of individual fairground rides.

14.7 Only one out of the ten households reported not having sufficient room for their living quarters. This respondent commented that the site was too small and at full capacity. All ten households reported having enough room for vehicles.

14.8 Generally speaking, the majority of households viewed their yard in a positive light in terms of the size of the plot, the design of the yard, the neighbours, location, facilities and management of the yard. All households had access to most of the facilities the survey enquired about (including water and electric supply, WC and rubbish collection). Although all households had access to electricity and water supplies it was commented that these were ‘sub-

standard’ as there is a need for more taps and better electricity boxes. 14.9 The survey asked all households to comment upon what improvements they

would like to see made to their yard. These included:

• Tarmac/hard standing

• Improved electricity boxes

• Better water supply

• Amenities building

14.10 All but two of the households had lived on the yards for 5 years or more. Three households thought they would remain on the yard indefinitely; the remaining respondents did not know how long they would stay on the yard. 14.11 All of the households were local to the area in some way and those

respondents who still worked fairs travelled between 3 and 8 months of the year. A number of people reported that the amount they travelled had changed for a number of reasons, such as the loss of fairground sites, retirement and ill health.

14.12 Respondents worked most frequently on fairs in the North East region, particularly within Tees Valley, Tyne and Wear and County Durham. Some respondents also worked in Yorkshire, Humberside and Northumberland. 14.13 There was a mixture in preferences for how people preferred to live when

working; the majority of households preferred to stay on ‘Fairland’ in their trailers, one household commuted from their residential yard to their

workplace, and two respondents preferred to stay on ‘Fair land’ or commute to and from their permanent yard if the fair was local.

14.14 Only one household was thought to require independent accommodation over the next 5-year period. This was for a respondent’s daughter and it was thought she would to want to live near to her family in trailer-based accommodation. Although only one additional household was formally reported, many of the respondents commented there was not enough accommodation for Travelling Showpeople in the area:

“We are a young couple. We need room to put down roots. We hope to have children and there aren’t enough yards for

Showpeople. The yard we are in now is full up.”

“We need help from local councils to establish more yards as travelling sites are harder to find.”

14.15 Because so little is known about how Travelling Showpeople live and want to live, rather than confine respondents to tick-box answers, the fieldwork team provided respondents with as much chance to talk to us about their needs as was possible. Many of the respondents felt that the council needed to do more to provide accommodation for Travelling Showpeople:

“Councils should provide yards for Showpeople. They do it for all the other travelling groups.”

“There should be land made available to buy or rent or lease from the council as permanent quarters. We are retired and would welcome our own yard to live in.”

14.16 It was clear that Travelling Showpeople were keen for the local authorities to offer them greater acknowledgement and recognition in planning for yards. Some of the respondents’ comments are below:

“I feel more awareness about Showpeople should and would help in planning applications. If people don’t understand that we are from a cultural community they make decisions based on

ignorance.”

“They need to understand we are a transient community, who don’t want to live in a house.”

14.17 In addition many of the respondents commented that they want to be treated equally to other travelling groups and to be recognised as a cultural minority:

“I am sick of remarks like ‘I didn’t know there was a different group of people like Showpeople’.”

“We are lumped with other travelling groups.”

“I wish local authorities would treat us as a cultural group and not as riff raff.”

14.17 Broadly speaking there were two main messages. Firstly, respondents wanted more yards and land made available so that they could purchase and develop a yard for their own needs. Secondly, respondents were keen to be recognised as a travelling group in their own right, different to Gypsies and Travellers.

14.18 In addition to the Travelling Showpeople who were resident in the area, the Study Team were also made aware of a circus family that was currently residing within Darlington. The circus was currently renting a piece of land which is usually used for the storage of transport. It emerged from consulting with the residents of this yard that they have temporarily resided on the site in order to avoid any restrictions which would be imposed on them by the

movement restrictions by DEFRA related to bluetongue in Shropshire where they own a private yard. By remaining on this land they are able to travel as a circus throughout the year whereas in Shropshire they would not be allowed to move the animals. The main respondent of the yard is a member of the Showmen’s Guild. They are due to leave the site in Darlington in March 2008 to go back on tour. If all is clear in Shropshire later in the year they will go back to their Shropshire site for winter 2008. If there are still restrictions they will still return to Shropshire, but look to accommodate their animals over the Welsh Border if possible.

14.19 There were no accommodation needs identified within the Study Area from this household.

15. An assessment of need for residential pitches

15.1 Nationally, there are no signs that the growth in the Gypsy and Traveller population will slow significantly. Indeed, population characteristics emerging from research around Gypsy and Traveller accommodation point to the fact that the formation of new households is inevitable.26 Although the supply of authorised accommodation has declined since 1994, the size of the

population of Gypsies and Travellers does not appear to have been affected to a great extent. Rather, the way in which Gypsies and Travellers live has changed, including an increase in the use of unauthorised sites; innovative house dwelling arrangements (i.e. living in trailers in the grounds of houses); overcrowding on sites; and overcrowding within accommodation units (trailers, houses, chalets, etc.).

15.2 From an analysis of the data presented throughout this report there is every indication that the Study Area will share in this national growth as a result of its long-standing Gypsy and Traveller community, key transport links and attractive urban and rural localities. In turn, this survey has indicated that in many Gypsy and Traveller families, older children will want to form new households, preferably near their families across the Study Area.

15.3 Given the presence of unauthorised encampments, household concealment and future household formation, the current supply of appropriate

accommodation appears to be significantly less than the ‘need’ identified. It is the conclusion of the project team that there is a need for more pitch-based accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers within the Study Area. The following chapters look in depth at this issue, considering residential and transit pitch need for Gypsies and Travellers, specific pitch needs for Travelling Showpeople and needs relating to bricks and mortar accommodation.