Gypsies and Travellers
The Cheshire and Warrington Traveller Team have published a Cultural Awareness Guide to help local residents understand cultural issues, traditions and various backgrounds relating to these communities.
Published: 19 April 2024
Throughout the year, Birchwood is usually visited by a number of groups from the Gypsy and Traveller Communities.
The Cheshire and Warrington Traveller Team have published a Cultural Awareness Guide to help local residents understand cultural issues, traditions and various backgrounds relating to these communities, in which they explain:
“Gypsies & Irish Travellers are amongst the most disadvantaged groups who access our services. There are cultural and language/literacy barriers and individuals need as much help and support as any others who access our services.”
To view the guide in full, click below.
As with all communities, including the settled community, sometimes there are people who find it difficult to get on with their neighbours.
Some Gypsy and Traveller groups who pass through Birchwood cause no substantial issues for the local, settled community.
However, there are occasions when a group may cause alarm or distress, in one form or another, to residents and the wider community.
A new Policing Bill has now come into law with the aim of, ‘Strengthening police powers to tackle unauthorised encampments’ by introducing new legislation to change trespass from a civil to a criminal offence and/or strengthen police powers under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (CJPOA).
Royal Assent was granted by her late Majesty, the Queen on Thursday 28 April to the Bill, so it is now an Act of Parliament. The legislation in the Bill regarding trespass / unauthorised encampments came into law on 28 June 2022.
To view further information relating to this Bill click below.
