Gypsy plan 'likely to anger residents'

Outside the meeting, Mr Sumnall admitted allocating travellers' sites would anger those who lived close to the preferred locations.

But he said the present situation '“ with permission being sought for various sites and occupations by travellers of other land '“ could not continue.

"We would have control of the sites and we would remove all the arguments that keep going on about this issue," he said.

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"We have to solve this problem. It's a mess at the moment. We are spending a lot of time as councillors and officers with a lot of aggravation with these sites. We have to come to a resolution rather than have a decision imposed on us by the government."

Cllr Jean Goad, a district councillor for Barnham, has represented some of the residents concerned about the gypsy sites.

She said: "We have to find somewhere for these people to live but no one wants them where they are.

"It's a real shame because all travellers get tarred with the same brush. We've unfortunately had one or two difficult experiences with them. People are very anxious about the situation."

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n A barrier to stop illegal occupation of the coach park at a cost of some 30,000 will be considered by Arun's councillors when they decide next year's budget in February.

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