Consultation should involve the gypsies

10:40am Friday 2nd May 2008

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I attended the North Wiltshire District Council meeting on gypsy sites.

The district council has been forced to give six weeks' consultation due to the pressure put upon it at last week's meeting.

Dick Tonge nearly had to close the meeting due to jeers from the public at one point. However, I'm pleased he didn't.

I am, though, still very concerned that Calne Town Council had to learn of this meeting via the media. I have submitted a formal complaint to the district council on this matter and I understand it is being dealt with by Peter Jeremiha.

There is an argument that this information had appeared on the district council's website over a week ago. However, Calne Town Council and the district council are in regular contact on many matters and communicate regularly in a much more formal manner, so was this missed due to incompetence or something more sinister? Is the town council now expected to trawl through the district council's website to locate sensitive information such as this?

After the meeting, I spoke to one of the gypsy family leaders who told me that there has been no trouble at the Minety site and he suggested officials should talk to the police to get some proof of this.

He also mentioned that he believed the majority of the residents were okay with them being where they were.

Probably the most upsetting thing is that they feel they're being treated like cattle and not human beings. These are people with real feelings. They have rights too. Let's hope the consultation process fully involves the gypsies.

Coun Paul Venton, Shelburne Road, Calne