Many encampments do not cause problems, the council says

The Gypsy and Traveller Advisory Board for Kent says there were problems at more than half the 225 camps set up last year in the county.

Bill Forrester, of the council's Gypsy Unit, said the authority would reduce costs by better management of camps.

He said the planning system needed to accommodate people, but not let them just "set up where they like".

Mr Forrester said the numbers of unauthorised encampments would come as a surprise to people, but it would also come as a surprise that many encampments caused no problems.

Community access

"People assume every encampment causes problems and that's far from the case," he said.

He said �500,000 was the top estimate for yearly costs of illegal camps across the county each year.

"One thing that can be done is to try to reduce the amount of social exclusion there is of the Gypsy community and developing a constructive relationship between the community - whether on sites or in housing - and other people," he said.

He said the council wanted to increase the Gypsy community's access to services and other opportunities that other people had.

"There is a great deal of work to do on that within Kent, and elsewhere in the county," he said.