Homeless travellers in Derbyshire Dales won't be evicted during lockdown

Derbyshire Dales Council has said the travellers will not be moved until lockdown has ended

Meanwhile, a long-failed search for a permanent site for travellers in the Derbyshire Dales, possibly close to Ashbourne, continues to drag on without an end in sight.

Derbyshire Dales Council officers revealed in October that a secret one-acre site is a potential solution for the area’s decades long search.

It was said to be able to cater for nine traveller pitches – the total the district must find by 2034.

Alongside this, the district has a legal obligation to provide a permanent home for a traveller family with local ties to Ashbourne.

This obligation falls under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017

The “secret” site, which is believed to be the coal yard at Clifton, near Ashbourne, close to the Shrovetide goal, is owned by a private landowner and discussions were said – seven months ago – to be progressing “very speedily”.

However, now no agreement seems to be in sight.

Even with an agreement for the Clifton site a planning application would need to be filed and approved – which will take months, and officers are eager for these decisions to be made with full public access in order to hear their views.

District planners hope to move the traveller family – who are currently at Bakewell – on to the “secret” site before an application is approved, if the owner agrees.

Tim Braund, the council’s director of regulatory services, said: “The current situation is that we are managing the family concerned at Bakewell (at the Agricultural Business Centre).

“The Government has advised that wherever possible local authorities should not be moving travellers around during the lockdown, but should instead be tolerating and supporting them in situ.

“In part this is because moving groups of people around might help to spread the virus and in part because, as a group, travellers are considered to be more vulnerable to health risks than average.

“There was a period of time before the current coronavirus lockdown where a family member was suffering from a terminal illness and receiving care from a GP and care home in Bakewell.

“The court would not grant an order to evict the family over this period.

“Soon after that family member passed away we did go to court on March 17 and obtained a Possession Order.

“However, in granting it the judge specified that we should not evict until such time that the movement restrictions that were then being introduced were lifted.

“Obviously this backs the general government advice and is the line of action that the council has followed.

“We continue to look for a permanent home for this family of travellers, but at the present time there is no agreement or planning application to present to members.

“Officers are continuing to work on the issue as best they can in the current circumstances and will present a report to members as soon as there is an agreement to be presented.

“This is not an item of business that will be concluded under the extended delegation arrangements as both officers and members are fully aware of the sensitivity of the issue and the need to make any decisions in public.”