With the news that Travellers have settled in Stroud Green near Newbury, there seems to be an out cry in the local media against the desecration of their community space. We must remember that Gypsies and other Travellers are sections of society which are greatly disadvantaged and discriminated against. We must recognise that the travelling people have ancient, valuable and valid lifestyles and cultures, and they have a right to preserve these values. We in West Berkshire should strive to ensure equal rights and community obligations for Travellers as citizens, without imposing unwanted conformity to the values and lifestyle of the dominant culture. I can't help thinking that if parish and West Berks Council's provisioned spaces for the travelling community, then incidents like this would go away.
Travellers in West Berkshire cause a stir – but are we the problem? by Adrian Hollister is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
