Herts Council condemns fake "Gypsy" planning notice

The fake notice told of a 200-pitch site for "Eastern European Roma Gypsies" and also mentioned donkeys, dogs, pigs and horses

By Damian Le Bas

THE MAYOR of Harpenden, Hertfordshire, has spoken out against a fake planning notice warning of a 200-pitch Gypsy site as "an innapropriate joke".

Rosemary Farmer said the notice, which was typed on a single sheet of paper and fixed to a fence by former allotments at Westfield Road, was "in very poor taste".

The notice played to offensive Gypsy stereotypes, saying that trenches would be used as temporary toilets and that donkeys, dogs, pigs and horses would be living on site with the residents. 

It also blended concerns about migrations of Romani people from Eastern Europe- very few of whom live in caravans- with fears about Traveller sites, saying that the pitches would be for "Eastern European Roma Gypsies".

Yet the mayor expressed concern for locals who might have been frightened by the notice.

"It was put up where there are a number of elderly residents, who could potentially have been very worried by it, if they hadn't realised it was a spoof," said Farmer.

Suspicions were raised due to the lack of any official logos on the notice.

Joseph Jones of The Gypsy Council told the BBC that "In a way [the sign] shows how the whole Gypsy Traveller lack of accommodation is being manipulated by people to promote tensions in the community.

"I don't know what the motive was of the person that did it, but it does highlight how Gypsies and Travellers are often used as a political football," said Jones.

The site has been mooted for new developments including housing and use by local charity Harpenden Mencap.

In a typical move, those opposed to changes at the site suggested that it was home to protected Roman snails, although the council says there is "no evidence" of the presence of such snails at the site.