Latest news with #Travellers'
Press and Journal
7 days ago
- General
- Press and Journal
Safety fears after arrival of Travellers at Aberdeen's Inverdee pitches causes 'very frustrating' cricket disruption
Local cricket has been disrupted due to the arrival of Travellers at Inverdee playing fields. Around 15 caravans arrived at the Aberdeen site, next two Goals and Harvester, over the weekend. Although the vehicles are spread out around the boundary edge of the two cricket pitches at Inverdee, the Travellers' presence still led to Sunday's North East Grade Four matches between 3rd Grampian and 3rd Mannofield and Ceylon Deeside and 2nd Methlick being postponed. Two Evening League matches – North Sea v Knight Riders and Grampian Strikers v Aberdeen Tigers – were scheduled to be played at Inverdee on Tuesday night, but have now been called off and rearranged for next Wednesday. Meanwhile, Wednesday night Evening League fixtures between 2nd Knight Riders and Master Blasters Aberdeen and Shell and Aberdeen All-Stars may also have to be postponed. A spokesperson for the North East Scotland Cricket – who manage the cricket bookings at Inverdee and run the Grades – explained the games were postponed on safety grounds. The spokesperson said: 'It's very frustrating that cricketers who had planned their weekend and midweek around playing at Inverdee have not been able to enjoy their sport. 'Whilst we appreciate that the vehicles have been spread outside the boundaries of the two pitches, any cricket match would potentially result in damage being caused, and the safety of all involved is paramount. 'We have two matches scheduled to be played on Saturday. We hope that Inverdee will be available for those games. 'We are grateful to Sport Aberdeen and Aberdeen City Council for their efforts in trying to progress access.' One Traveller spoke to the Press and Journal on Monday and said they were in Aberdeen as part of a summer holiday tour of Scotland and only planned to stay in the north-east for a week.
RTÉ News
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Martin Clunes says neighbours in planning row are not 'Travellers'
Doc Martin star Martin Clunes has said neighbours to his Dorset home who want to create a permanent Travellers' site cannot be classified as such simply "because they visit festivals to sell items". The actor and other villagers in Beaminster, Dorset, have objected to the plans by Theo Langton and Ruth McGill. The couple, who have lived in a 45ft by 16ft (13.7m by 4.9m) mobile home on land they own at Meerhay for 25 years, have applied for planning permission to continue living there permanently. Officers at Dorset Council had recommended the plans for approval at last month's western and southern area planning committee but the case was deferred after concerns were raised about the risk of flooding at the site. Now Mr Clunes and his wife have written a further submission to the committee expressing their concerns over the proposals, including the recommendation of the council's gypsy liaison officer that Mr Langton and Ms McGill should be considered as "New Age Travellers". An officer's report to the committee said: "It is very clear they follow and are a part of the New Age Traveller community and have been for many years. "Although they are not ethnic gypsies, I am more than satisfied they are New Age Travellers and have a lot of friends and support in the new Traveller community." In response, Mr Clunes wrote: "It cannot be concluded that the applicants are persons of nomadic habit of life due to them visiting music and other festivals each year to sell items and help set them up. "This would mean that many, if not all, stallholders at such festivals, as well as the roadies who travel with the festival organisers, retailers and bands would be classed as gypsies and Travellers within the planning definition, which clearly is not the case." He continued: "Persons cannot claim they are Travellers because of the way they project themselves either by the way they dress, or living on a site without basic amenities or the company they keep, or because they travel to certain types of music festivals or fairs, here or abroad. "More precisely, there is no evidence that the applicants have 'a cultural tradition of nomadism or living in a caravan'. "Being on a committee supporting Travellers does not mean that they are a Traveller either, nor that the local community accepts them as such. "What is to the point here is that there is no evidence that selling masks and other items at festivals and fairs is the applicants' means of livelihood, as required as a test in law." The application is for continued use of land as a private residential Traveller site for "sole use of the applicants and family" and to include the use of a barn as a workshop, along with a mobile home, a touring caravan and a van to be based on the site. In a letter submitted to the council by Mr Clunes' solicitors, Kitson Trotman, in April 2023, they argued the applicants do not fit within the definition of Travellers and that approving the plans for the permanent site would set a "harmful precedent". The agenda for April's cancelled hearing had recommended councillors approve the scheme. The officers stated in their report: "The location is considered to be relatively sustainable and the proposal is acceptable in its design and general visual impact. "There is not considered to be any significant harm to neighbouring residential amenity. "There are no material considerations which would warrant refusal of this application." The case was previously delayed by the planning committee in April 2023 after a last-minute objection was received from Mr Clunes.
The Independent
25-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Trespass laws are preventing Travellers from practising lifestyle, report says
A Council of Europe commissioner has called for the repeal of Irish trespass legislation, arguing it infringes on Travellers' nomadic traditions. Human rights commissioner Michael O'Flaherty made the recommendation in a memorandum published Tuesday, addressing the human rights of Travellers and Roma in Ireland. O'Flaherty, an Irish human rights lawyer who assumed his role in April 2022, met with Traveller and Roma representatives in Dublin and Limerick last October. His memorandum highlights the 2001 Trespass Legislation and the Housing Miscellaneous Acts of 1992 and 2002, which criminalize trespassing on both private and public land. These laws can lead to the eviction and imprisonment of Travellers, and even the impoundment of their trailers. In many places, boulders have been erected by the local authorities in what used to be traditional halting sites for Travellers. The commissioner said these policies and the continued lack of provision of culturally appropriate accommodation prevents many Travellers from practising nomadism. Only an estimated 15-20% still live in mobile homes or trailers, often in substandard and overcrowded conditions such as on unofficial halting sites and without access to water or electricity. Mr O'Flaherty said the provisions preventing Travellers from practising their nomadic lifestyle should be repealed and measures should be taken to provide for 'culturally appropriate accommodation at local level'. He also called on authorities to address living conditions in halting sites, after 'consistent accounts' of poor maintenance, rodent infestation, inadequate sanitation and waste disposal systems, and unsafe or intermittent electrical installations. The commissioner's recommendation is in line with calls from the Traveller representative group Pavee Point. A similar recommendation was contained in a July 2019 report on Traveller accommodation prepared by an independent expert group for the Department of Housing. That group said the legislation should be repealed, in particular for publicly owned land until an appropriate network of transient sites has been established. The Government said a programme board has set up a sub-group to develop a protocol for a consistent approach for local authorities and Traveller households, taking account of the legislation for the removal of temporary dwellings. It said the Traveller Accommodation Act 1998 is supported through Housing For All and provides for Traveller-specific accommodation measures. Mr O'Flaherty said he was told during his visit that a review of the trespass legislation is not currently considered. He also said that 'structural anti-Traveller racism and anti-gypsyism' in Irish society constitutes one of the main barriers to progress in the access to rights of Travellers and Roma, 'permeating all aspects of their lives'. He recommended that Irish authorities effectively address over-policing of the Traveller and Roma communities, including through an accessible independent complaints body and an ethnic identifier throughout the criminal process to ensure the contributing factors to the over-representation of Travellers in Irish prisons are addressed. The commissioner also recommended that Irish authorities take measures to address racism against and bullying of Traveller and Roma children in schools, as well as ensure effective implementation of health and mental health plans. Equality Minister Norma Foley said the report was 'constructive', while her department said most of the recommendations in the report will be acted on under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy II 2024-2028. She said: 'While much has been done in recent years to address the issues faced by Travellers and Roma in Ireland, I am conscious that more remains to be done.' Ms Foley said her department was committed to implementing the inclusion strategy ensuring 'active participation' of Travellers and Roma in Ireland's social, economic, cultural and political life.
