“They wouldn’t close Breightmet and move everyone out”

A member of the Gypsy community has hit out at double standards in the treatment of people from the Gypsy, Roma and Traveler groups after Bolton Council began evicting people from Crompton Lodge caravan park.

Figures from the Department for Levelling, Housing and Communities show there were 28 Traveler caravans registered in Bolton in January – up from 11 the previous year, none of which were deemed ‘unauthorised’ by officials.

In England, 26,632 caravans were counted in January, a seven per cent increase on the previous year – however the department said this was partly due to improved data quality in the latest count.

Sybil Lee grew up at Crompton Lodge caravan park. Now 47, Sybil – herself an English gypsy – moved to Wigan when she was 19, but she’s originally from Bolton.

She believes the site has become too large to manage and should instead have been split into two smaller sites.

She said: “It’s like a big council estate, if you have a lot of people on a big council estate it’s really hard for anyone to manage it.

“Crompton Lodge shouldn’t be closed but it should be managed much better than it is because where are they going to put people when they move them?

“Then they become homeless, so what happens then?”

Sybil Lee previously lived at Crompton Lodge (Image: Sybil Lee)

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She added: “They wouldn’t close Breightmet, would they, and move everyone out of that property?

“Where are they going to put them? Will they open a new caravan site for them, will they give them houses?

“What are they doing to support people who have been in that area for a long, long, long time?”

Sybil, a seasoned campaigner, believes there is not enough understanding of the Roma community.

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While the level of education in Roma communities is generally lower than the population as a whole, according to ONS census data, Sybil was keen to point out that the proportion of Gypsies, Roma and Travelers in education is increasing.

Despite having three jobs, she recalls one incident where, she says, she was stereotyped as a tax dodger.

Sybil believes that stereotypes about the community contribute to this lack of understanding and poor policy decisions.

“To be honest with you, I sat in Parliament and talked about it until I was blue in the face and all it is: a ticking exercise – I’m sorry but that’s what it feels like,” the 47-year-old said . he said a year.

She added: “They’re going to the wrong people to talk about it – if you look at the Gypsy, Traveler and Roma community who work in these organizations that supposedly represent us, there’s hardly anyone from Lancashire.

“There’s nobody on this side of the fence, they’re all either from London or Yorkshire.”

For now, much of Bolton’s Gypsy, Roma and Traveler community lives in limbo.

A court hearing to order people to evict the site has been adjourned until next month – meaning those living on the site have a little longer to come to terms with losing their homes.

If granted, breaching the closure order is an offense punishable by imprisonment for a term of up to six months or an unlimited fine, or both.

Council officers said residents holding leases would be supported throughout the process.

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