A traveller community by definition means that they should be regularly on the move. There should actually be a register of all traveller sites across the UK and they should book a pitch for a defined time and at the end of that time then move on to another area/site. To book the pitch they should pay a damage deposit which would be retained in the event it was required because as a council tax payer I object to my tax going towards repairing the damage that these communities make. Many of them stay (longer than many homeowners to an area) which makes a farce of them being called the “travelling community”. If they wish to stay in an area longer then they buy a house, rent a house or apply to build a house (with planning permission) like everyone else.

A maximum number of pitches should be co-located together in order to minimise
- intimidation to existing homeowners around the site,
- over dominance (illegal pitches being set up),
- distruption to the local community (mess left).

I would suggest this figure is a maximum of 3 pitches. The travellers that set up at Clements Hall were aggressive and intimating towards the staff at Clements Hall and this shouldn’t be tolerated. I have no objection to genuine travellers who do move on, cause no trouble and contribute favourably to the community that they chose to temporarily live in but unfortunately this is not often the case.