BOROUGH chiefs will reconsider how they deal with illegal gypsy and traveller sites after Northwich was hit by more than a dozen encampments in recent weeks.

At a full council meeting on Thursday, cross-party members backed a motion from Cllr Gaynor Sinar, Conservative member for Davenham and Moulton, to look at best practice for dealing with unauthorised encampments and improve community cohesion.

She said: “The recent occupation of Leftwich Green and Saxons Lane playing fields by travellers has caused considerable disruption to the residents of Leftwich, Hartford and Greenbank, along with other areas such as Winnington and the town centre.

“With extensive clean-up costs being borne by the taxpayer, this situation has served to foster mistrust, both by settled and travelling communities, making future community relations more difficult and adding to the local concerns about community safety.”

Cllr Patricia Parkes, Conservative member for Hartford and Greenbank, added that it was ‘apparent that further measures can be taken’ to support both settled residents and travelling communities.

The motion received cross-party support after Cllr Nicole Meardon, cabinet member for children and young people, amended it to give CWAC’s people scrutiny committee the task of looking at the ‘really important issue’ of improving community cohesion.

She said: “We’ve heard tonight about some of the challenges our local communities face when unauthorised encampments arrive, and it’s important that we can deal with these situations swiftly, sensitively, and meet the needs of both our settled and travelling communities.

“I think there is also a wider issue in how we support those communities. This group is amongst the most discriminated in the UK. The differences in health outcomes, life expectancy, child mortality and educational outcomes is staggering, and the list goes on.

“I believe we should use this opportunity to look at those unauthorised encampments, how we take a multi-agency approach and how we ensure all the welfare needs are met, as well as the needs of local residents.”

Cllr Angela Claydon, cabinet member for housing, also reminded the council that police will have the power to move travellers and gypsies off illegal sites if CWAC’s proposed transit site in Ellesmere Port is given the green light.