Dundee councillors have been told of a range of possible options for dealing with illicit Traveller camps in the city.
Councillor John Alexander convened a two-hour private briefing with members at City Chambers, at which potential solutions to the long-
running issue were discussed.
Mr Alexander wants a different approach to Travellers following a series of large encampments around the city in recent months.
At the meeting, officials from the housing department reviewed a pilot scheme, run late last year, that saw one group of Travellers allowed to park up on Jack Martin Way without any legal action being taken.
Councillors also looked at how other councils in the area deal with the same issue.
Currently, the council has an official site at Balmuir Wood.
It’s now being considered whether a temporary “stop-off” point, similar to the set-up at Jack Martin Way, should be set up by the council in case of an overspill at Balmuir Wood. Another idea is the provision of skips for Traveller groups to put their rubbish in.
Councillor Brian Gordon (pictured left), of the North East ward, told the Tele he was concerned at Jack Martin Way being the only location
mentioned for a possible stop-off site and urged the administration to look elsewhere too.
He said: “Throughout the meeting, the only site mentioned was Jack Martin Way and I would be extremely disappointed if no other site was considered.
“Councillors were also asked to recommend patches for another possible site, but I don’t think it would be fair for councillors to recommend a site that would see the issues that come with Travellers go to another ward.”
But Mr Alexander said: “All options are on the table now as I remain committed to coming up with a solution to this. The last thing I want is for this to turn into a territorial debate — that was not the point.”
Mr Alexander says he wants to gather views from the public, councillors and members of the Travelling community in order to find a solution.
Among those present at the briefing were experts from Planning Aid Scotland, to show how the issue is dealt with in Fife and Perth & Kinross.