Social Cohesion Issues between the Communities of the Bagworth and Thornton Parish

Contents.

  1. Foreword.
  1. Introduction.
  1. The Background.
  2. What is the present situation?
  3. The Settled Community Concerns.
  4. Gypsy Roma Traveller Community Perspective.
  5. What will be the impact on all the communities is nothing is done?
  6. What suggestion did people have to improve the situation?
  7. Recommendations.
  1. Foreword

We are delighted to present this report which has involved our local community and partner agencies it highlights the complexities of social cohesion within this priority neighbourhood.

In this report we have attempted to raise and challenge some of the issues within this diverse parish. The communities on both sides, as it currently stands, have legitimate arguments that we all need to consider, understand and address.

We can pull a number of positive actions from the work we have been doing as this report has developed, this includes the engagement of the settled and traveller community and that the key to the future is through our younger generations.

We would like to see the recommendations in this report influencing the strategies developed by all the agencies identified in this report.

Planning rules need to be clear to all, intimidation needs to be recognised and addressed, education and health needs to be improved, discrimination towards both the settled and traveller communities needs to be understood and all agencies need to deliver a fair and equal service.

I would like to thank everybody who has contributed to this report and would hope it will be the start of a new dynamic and cohesive parish community.

Best wishes

David Sprason CC

Chairman

Neighbourhood Action Team

  1. Introduction

This report has been compiled on behalf of the Neighbourhood Action Team (NAT) for the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). The report is based on information provided by:

  1. County, Borough and Parish Councillors
  2. Community Activists
  3. Service Providers and Practitioners

The report will look at the possible impact, on social cohesion, of the growing tension between the Gypsy and Traveller Communities and the residents of Bagworth and Thornton villages. These increased tensions have two main causes:

  1. The HBBC proposed new Traveller site at the reservoir in Thornton -- this was in response to the Government's requirement to identify additional pitches for caravans within the Borough of Hinckley and Bosworth.
  2. The unauthorised change of use of land in the Bagworth area to provide a new Gypsy, Roma, Traveller caravan site. Now subject to an application for retrospective planning permission.

The resolution of both of these issues is essentially a planning matter and the understanding from the Police is that at present no laws have been broken. Therefore the final resolution to this matter lies with the planning authority HBBC.

That said the potential fallout from these two situations and the damage it has caused to all the communities is of concern to the NAT and also to the LSP. The present situation clearly raises issues around the delivery of Local Area Agreement 2 (LAA2). Social cohesion is addressed by the National Indicators:

  1. (NI1)” % of people who believe people from different backgrounds get on well together in their local area”.
  2. (NI2) “% of people who feel that they belong to their neighbourhood”.
  3. (NI4)”% of people who feel they can influence decisions about their locality.

These three indicators underpin the delivery of work in the priority areas and a central part of the Stronger Communities Agenda within LAA2.

There is evidence to show that the Stronger Communities Agenda is being undermined by recent events. There is a danger that the situation will cause a growing feeling of a democratic deficit. People on all sides of the arguments feel powerless and believe the system is unfair or is implemented unfairly. A lack of faith in the political and legal process may open the way for more extremist elements to take advantage of the situation.

One of the problems in trying to develop a strategy is separating out which elements relate to legitimate protest about real concerns as opposed to actions based on prejudice and cultural ignorance. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that what might be seen as legitimate protest on one side can be seen very differently on the other.

For example there have been signs placed in the village reading ‘Say No Thornton Traveller Site’ was placed by local people who had a concern about the appropriate nature of the site and the lack of infrastructure to cope with it. However there is an understandable impact on the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Community who feel that it says no to them. This has to be understood in relation to the clearly racist signs that have been put up in other parts of the County. Furthermore people on all sides have tended to operate with polarised stereotypes of each other when the reality on the ground is far more complicated.

Views in both villages are complex and cover a wide range of views. There are residents who want to have nothing to do with Travellers and there are those who are working to develop a constructive relationship with them. Within the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community there is evidence that they feel anything done wrong by a member of their community was blamed on the whole community. This causes the community to feel an acute feeling of injustice and they believe that Travellers should be judged individually on what they do.

Taking the above into account it is important to appreciate that there have been situations where some members of the Traveller community have been responsible for acts of provocation and intimidation, there is a belief that there has been a failure to deal with this. We have a situation in which both sides are angry and there is a danger of this continuing to escalate.

To add a note of caution if the impression is given that Traveller community numbers are linked to the increase in resources for Bagworth and Thornton this might serve to undermine the developments taking place. This is because it could be interpreted by some of the settled community that the developments are dependent on all the Travellers staying and numbers increasing further. It is important that service providers do not give this impression by making casual links that are not there. Neighbourhood Action programmes should be delivered on the basis it is the duty of any modern society to ensure all its citizens, especially the young and the most vulnerable, have access to decent health care, education, facilities such as shops and opportunities for employment.

We must also recognise that there will always be some level of Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller community in the area and they have a right to decent facilities to. In Bagworth you could say that the facilities are not overstretched because there are no facilities in the first place.

Finally this report will look at ways of resolving the issues that are currently affecting the area in relationship to fostering social cohesion. It needs to be recognised that there are no quick fixes and much of the work relies on small steps to build trust and understanding.

  1. The Background

The Parish was part of the South Midlands Area of the Leicestershire Coalfields. There were seven pits within a ten mile radius of Bagworth pit. Merrylees and Nailstone pits were closed in the 1960s; the remainder were closed during the 1980s.

Bagworth pit was the last to close in 1991, leaving a demoralised community the pit was unique being sited in the village centre. This is important as the site stood derelict for ten years before the housing developments in 2001, continually reminding residents of a way of life which had lasted for 163 years. Employment, housing, fuel, community and sporting facilities all provided by the Coal Authorities, and now it was gone.

Subsidence had also taken its toll, with the loss of some 70 homes, the school, the medieval church, the Co-op shop and numerous other features. However, 300 new homes have been built which brought in new families who want facilities such as shops, medical provision, and maybe even a school.

Thornton has developed differently. Miners lived in the village, working in the local pits, but the village seemed less dependent on the Coal Authority. There were no mine workings and no subsidence, but it has a school, community centre, an ancient church, shops, petrol station and a couple of pubs. Its gem is the beautiful reservoir built in 1854. With such delightful surroundings cottages were improved and large houses built to overlook the reservoir. Thornton, though, is situated on a narrow plateau, along which Main Street runs. This means that, apart from infill, any housing development has to be constructed on very steep hillsides, so the village is unable to grow significantly.

The travelling community has been around for hundreds of years, mostly engaged in seasonal work within the countryside. Sadly they have also been persecuted for many years. With the arrival of the pits in Leicestershire (1820s) travellers found an important and lucrative opportunity removing the detritus and scrap discarded by the mine workings, and so became closely involved in the area.

The start of the present set of issues dates back to the development of the Costalot site. The field which is now known as Costalot was agricultural with a barn on the site. At some time in the early seventies this field was acquired and the barn was put to use as a place of religious worship and caravans moved on to the site.

Subsequently buildings began to appear roads were tarmaced, electricity and other services installed. Planning permission was given retrospectively despite protests from the local settled community, the feeling of unfairness this generated within the local community still exists today and it is important to appreciate this within the context of the present situation.

4. What is the present situation?

HBBC has included a site overlooking Thornton reservoir as a potential area for another traveller site in the site allocations consultation document. This caused massive resistance from local residents who object to as they saw it “Councillors thinking that this area might as well have yet more travelling people and which has resulted in a reminder to everyone just how badly they have been let down by the system over the years”.

A field adjoining Costalot, owned by a Traveller made arrangements to have hardcore dropped during the Thursday night before the morning of Good Friday when the Council would be closed for the Easter.

Perhaps the current situation for many of the locals of Bagworth and Thornton is that “...... without doubt an underlying resentment in the area concerning the presence of so many sites set up by travelling families and the underhand way in which they do so”.

Of course there is a wide spectrum of viewpoints amongst any community but, when placed in context of the history of the Costalot Site and the death of coal mining, it is easy to understand how such feelings of abandonment have developed amongst the settled community.

There is an element of gloom and despondency about how matters can be resolved and that is true for service providers and community activists alike. The tension and hostility between the Settled and the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller Communities has been going on for generations and has led to some of the worst excesses of racism in the 20th century so there are no quick fixes, this however should not be a reason not to try.

It is important for people to remain positive and appreciate diversity between communities while working towards the twin goals of inclusiveness and cohesion. For examplea strong element within Gypsy culture is the value placed on hard work and the importance of the family. These would be common values in the village communities as well. Perhaps common values can provide a bridging point.

With all the communities in Bagworth and Thornton there is an element of “we’ve heard it all before” just to find they have been let down, this was especially true when the NAT was launched in Bagworth and Thornton. Some progress has been made in building a degree of trust but the issue of the new Travellers site has done a lot to undermine this. It is therefore essential that commitments made by service providers are kept and they take seriously the lack of basic facilities in all the communities.

Even with all of this history there is also a determination by local Councillors and community activists to carry on and work to make things better. There is also a recognition that things will not change overnight and it needs to be properly supported from all levels of government to bring about change.

A number of local workers expressed concern that some politicians in the County have helped inflame the situation through the media, in some cases this may have been inadvertently. It is important to appreciate that local politicians are trying to work positively to improve relationships between the communities, this involvement by local politicians will be vital in the months to come.

5. The Settled Community Concerns

The points below typify some of the Concerns expressed by villagers with regards to the Travellers/Gypsy community based at Costalot:

  1. Unhelpful behaviour of young men with horses/trotting carts-regularly riding on the road bareback on horses in groups in a way that makes it difficult to pass, swearing and making hand gestures at drivers passing. This causes frustration to drivers when deliberately slowed down.
  2. A belief that Travellers are intimidating farmers to sell their land. No recent examples, although it may not be being spoken about. Example of 2yrs ago a farmer having stones thrown at him while ploughing. Incidents reported to police who offered a presence when ploughing but needed 2 weeks notice, not helpful as can’t predict weather etc for ploughing.
  3. Frustration that the family whose planning permission has been turned down, refused to accept the offer of a place on an authorised site because of divides within the Gypsy, Roma and Travellers community.
  4. A feeling that there are a large number of sites in the surrounding area.
  5. There have over the years been numerous problems which have emanated from the Costalot site.
  6. Hinckley R.C. has been stoned as they cycled past in a group. A member of Coalville Wheelers was forced off the road and stoned. He called the police but declined to press charges when it was pointed out that he would have to provide his name and address in open court.

The above represent the views of some of the settled community and should be read in that context. There are claims of provocation on both sides. Ideally, there needs to be a mechanism for both sides to raise issues between the communities and find ways of resolving these.

One of the key issues that has been raised by Parish Councillors and members of the community is the issue of intimidation. People have said that they are frightened of making complaints for fear of retaliation. With regards to this issue people need to be reassured that their identity will be protected. Therefore consideration needs to be given to how this can be achieved and how any resulting actions are fed back to the community. This is essential to insure that genuine provocations are dealt with effectively and confidence is restored in the system. Perhaps the Police and Community Safety Partnership can look at the way these issues are handled in the villages to help restore confidence in the system.

There are issues about resourcing and a belief that the Travelling community get more resources than the rest of the community. This impression fuels the feelings of unfairness. In reality no one in the communities have easy access to resources.

Perhaps as stated by one member of the Parish Council;

“I firmly believe that one of the major problems lies in the fact that the authorities persist in treating the problem as a 'special case'. It really doesn't matter if someone prefers to live in a caravan as opposed to a house. They are people, exactly the same as all of us. They should in fact be treated exactly the same as all of us. Not better, not worse, simply the same”.

6. Gypsy Roma Traveller Community Perspective

Workers with the Travelling Communities were definite that they were not getting better resources, a worker states that

“The Gypsy Roma Traveller community are hungry for education but wary of schools-they are very protective of their young people and generally bring them up to be very respectful of their elders and to have less freedom than the children of the settled community. This lack of education -pre literacy - is a major factor for the lack of power people feel over their own lives, it’s very difficult to get involved orbe a citizen - it makes people feel excluded and affects their life chances”