Over £850,000 To Improve Welsh Gypsy & Traveller Sites

Grants totalling £853,278 are being allocated to six local authorities during 2014/15 to help them refurbish Gypsy and Traveller sites.

This is the eighth year that the Welsh Government has awarded Gypsy and Traveller Sites Capital Grants. Wrexham County Borough will receive a grant of £85,482.50.

Other successful bids across Wales are:

– Cardiff City Council £58,575.86
– Carmarthenshire County Council £189,450
– Neath Port Talbot Council £174,554
– Pembrokeshire County Council £328,927.50
– Rhondda Cynon Taff Council £16,288.38

Grants will be spent on a number of activities including resurfacing plots, electrical rewiring, landscaping plots, erecting fences and improving security.

Announcing the grants, Communities Minister, Jeff Cuthbert, said: “I am committed to ensuring that Gypsies and Travellers in Wales have the same opportunities as people living in settled communities to access services and live the lives they wish.

“These grants build on our work to support local authorities provide quality sites for the Gypsy and Traveller community.”

In April 2014 local authorities were invited to submit applications for a share of capital grant funding. The grant covers 100% of the project costs for both new sites and refurbishment of existing local authority Gypsy and Traveller sites.