Travelling communities

Members of the travelling communities, including Gypsies and Travellers, periodically visit Adur and Worthing, most commonly in the summer and for short periods at a time. Adur & Worthing Councils welcome all communities to visit and enjoy our local area, and we also work together with partners to make sure visits by travelling communities work for everyone.

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is the lead authority for managing such visits, but a number of different organisations are also involved including Adur District Council, Worthing Borough Council and Sussex Police. These partners work together with the landowner, the community and the travelling communities, to try to ensure that such visits do not cause disruption to those in the area.

West Sussex County Council, the lead authority:

• carries out welfare checks on groups that visit
• manages communications with residents, the public and the media
• leads on any legal proceedings used to get groups to move on when required
• lists on its website all ongoing travelling community encampments it is involved with
   
• See also:
  • Tell WSCC about an unauthorised site or to check if a site has already been reported
  • WSCC list of permanent Gypsy or Traveller sites and information about them
    

Sussex Police:

• responds to any reports of antisocial behaviour or crime involving either the travelling communities or the settled community, the site where they are staying and the area nearby
• liaises with the Gypsy and Traveller Advisory Group to promote equality and tackle hate crime

To report incidents of antisocial behaviour or crime, including hate crime:

• call 101
• report crimes, issues and incidents - on the Sussex Police website
• however if you believe someone is in immediate danger, call 999
   
• See also:
  • Information about how Sussex Police works with travelling communities

Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council:

• provide access to bins and (where appropriate) toilets on the sites
• deal with reports of fly-tipping
• ensure sites are cleaned up after groups have moved on
• repair any damage caused to the sites afterwards
   
• See also:
  • Report incidents of fly-tipping

You may also be interested in:

• Government guidance around working with travelling communities, Gypsies and Travellers - on the GOV.UK website
• Coastal West Sussex Authorities Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA)

Support for travelling communities:

Travelling communities have a rich heritage in the area. You can find out more on the:

• Gypsies and Travellers in Sussex - on the Friends, Families and Travellers' Heritage webpage

While West Sussex County Council (the lead authority) carries out welfare checks on groups that visit, the Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT) organisation provides support to people from Gypsy, Roma or Traveller communities on issues that matter most to them. They offer advice on health and wellbeing, employment, and rights, and provide ongoing support. They also act as a 'care of' address and reading service for around 300 homeless families, to help gain and retain access to health, education and accommodation services.

• Friends, Families and Travellers' Heritage website

The FFT's Outreach Team also represents the interests of community members to statutory agencies and liaise with service providers, to ensure mainstream services are, and remain, accessible.

The FFT has created Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to help people better understand travelling communities and dispel stereotypes and assumptions about them:

• FAQs - on the Friends, Families and Travellers' Heritage website

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