5. Meeting the needs of Gypsies and Travellers

In addition to the general housing needs which have been considered above, there is recent evidence of an unmet need within Warwick District for accommodation for gypsies and travellers. This need is both for permanent and for transit sites. Government recommends that where there is evidence of need, we should seek to identify sites.

In order to do this, we need to consider firstly what criteria should we be following in seeking to identify sites for gypsies and travellers, and secondly what broad locations and sites should we be considering?

The criteria which we may wish to consider includes the following:-

• Access to GP and other health services and schools
• Avoiding areas with a high risk of flooding
• Access to the road network
• Avoiding the potential for noise and other disturbance
• Provision of utilities (running water, toilet facilities, etc)
• Avoiding areas where there could be damage to nature conservation
• Sites which can be integrated into the landscape without harming the character of the area.

Once agreed, these criteria will help us to identify possible broad areas within which sites may be found, and then for identifying the sites themselves.