Agenda item

To receive the report of the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance on any Notices of Motion received by her.

Councillors are asked to note that any Notices of Motion must be received by the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance no later than noon on Tuesday, 9 May.

The Council had before it a Notice of Motion set out in the agenda papers standing in the names of Cllr Mel Allcott, Cllr Richard Udall, Cllr Dan Boatright and Cllr Lynn Denham.

The motion was moved by Cllr Richard Udall and seconded by Cllr Dan Boatright, who both spoke in favour of it.

Those in favour of the motion commented:

·         Illegal traveller camps created fear, tensions and stress amongst local residents and left local councils with huge clear-up and security costs. There was a critical shortage of transit/temporary sites in the county despite the legal duty placed on the Council to provide them. The current protocol for the management of gypsy sites only provided for 21 days of deferred enforcement for illegal encampments. Evidence suggested that transit camps were needed and would be used by travellers thereby avoiding the cost of enforcement action. These legal transit camps would benefit travellers and be welcomed by local residents instead of unauthorised illegal camps. The Council had a responsibility as lead authority to work with district councils to make the necessary provision

·         Travellers in the local Pershore area had drawn attention to the lack of transit sites in the county. The addition of such sites would make a significant difference to them.

Those against the motion commented:

·         The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Communities commented that there was not a critical shortage of transit/temporary sites in the county. The responsibility for the allocation of permanent or transient traveller sites rested with the local planning authority through the site allocations in their local plan and any concerns should be raised with them. The Council worked with partner agencies through the joint protocol for the management of unauthorised gypsy encampments to deal with illegal encampments when they occurred on land in the ownership of this Council

·         The Chairman of the Corporate and Communities Scrutiny Panel commented that the Panel had received a report in 2022 on gypsy sites. The report explained that the administration of the 21 days’ notice of deferred enforcement under the protocol for the management of unauthorised gypsy encampments had always been of secondary importance to the welfare needs of the gypsy/traveller community. The 21 days’ notice would only be enforced if the illegal encampment became a nuisance to local residents.

On a named vote, the motion was lost.

Those in favour of the motion were: Cllr Mel Allcott, Cllr Martin Allen, Cllr Dan Boatright, Cllr Lynn Denham, Cllr Andy Fry, Cllr Matt Jenkins, Cllr Natalie McVey, Cllr Beverley Nielsen, Cllr Josh Robinson, Cllr Richard Udall, Cllr Malcom Victory and Cllr Tom Wells. (12).

Those against the motion were: Cllr Alastair Adams, Cllr Allan Amos, Cllr Marc Bayliss, Cllr Bob Brookes, Cllr David Chambers, Cllr Brandon Clayton, Cllr Kyle Daisley, Cllr Nathan Desmond, Cllr Allah Ditta, Cllr Matt Dormer, Cllr Elizabeth Eyre, Cllr Simon Geraghty, Cllr Laura Gretton, Cllr Peter Griffiths, Cllr Karen Hanks, Cllr Ian Hardiman, Cllr Paul Harrison, Cllr Marcus Hart, Cllr Bill Hopkins, Cllr Adam Kent, Cllr Adrian Kriss, Cllr Aled Luckman, Cllr Steve Mackay, Cllr Emma Marshall, Cllr Karen May, Cllr Jo Monk, Cllr Dan Morehead, Cllr Richard Morris, Cllr Tony Muir,  Cllr Tracey Onslow, Cllr Scott Richardson Brown, Cllr Andy Roberts, Cllr Linda Robinson, Cllr Chris Rogers, Cllr David Ross, Cllr Mike Rouse, Cllr James Stanley, Cllr Emma Stokes, Cllr Kit Taylor, Cllr Craig Warhurst, and Cllr Shirley Webb. (41)