See for yourself
As a local council Bristol City Council has won praise for it’s efforts to tackle the myths and prejudices surrounding Gypsy and Traveller community. But in it’s latest effort to provide more homes and understanding for the community, the council is harnessing the power of video and the internet to give Gypsies and Travellers some choice over where it will build up to 4 new sites across the city.
“In 2007 research proved that the council needed to provide 24 new permanent caravan pitches. The plan is to provide these on 4 small sites across the city.” says Ian Holding, Gypsy and Traveller Co-ordinator for the City Council. “We need to know what Gypsies and Travellers think of these sites, but we also need to know how Gypsies and Travellers would like them to be run and who they’d ideally like to live with.”
With many Gypsies and Travellers living in housing across the city a way had to be found to consult as many as possible. By creating a website dedicated to the community and a film that shows the proposed location of the new sites, the council is using modern technology to help overcome a very old problem. Expert commentary on the merits of each location is given in the video by Annie Crocker, a member of the Romany Gypsy community and an employee of Bristol City Council.
You can view it’s film above and comment on the council’s plans at: