A ROMANI traveller has called for more understanding about her community following a council review on encampments.

Lois Brookes-Jones, a second-year politics student at the University of Chester, spoke out at a Cheshire West and Chester Council meeting on Wednesday night where the review was discussed.

She was applauded by councillors after hitting out at the discrimination her community faces and calling for travellers to be empowered to make their voices heard.

“We need to be giving more positions of power in liaison and educating the wider community to the traveller and Romani community,” she said.

“There are incidents of people who are not from the community, educating people who are not from the community, on the community. It needs to come directly from us – I am an expert in my culture and history.

“All you have to do is type in ‘travellers’ into Google and you come up with loads of media covering things in a really negative way – like travellers are trying to take over, like an infestation, like a disease.

“We have been here for 500 years and we are still at the bottom of the pile. We’ve fought in every world war, we have contributed our efforts, and yet nothing is being done to help us with our traditional way of life.”

Lois’ comments came as CWAC’s people overview and scrutiny committee was due to discuss the findings of a cross-party working group looking at unauthorised encampments.

Labour members Cllr Val Armstrong and Cllr Carol Gahan worked with Conservatives Cllr Margaret Parker and Cllr Lynn Gibbon on the project – which saw them talk to police, the Cheshire and Warrington Traveller Team, and Irish Community Care.

They considered the impact of unauthorised encampments, recommended that work should step up to find a transit site for temporary living arrangements and called for raised awareness about the community among councillors and the public.

Cllr Adam Langan, Labour member for Newton and Hoole, said: “People who normally would not be racist in any sense of the word, when they talk about the traveller community will suddenly transform and use horrendous language – and we have a responsibility to challenge that.”

READ > Council cabinet to discuss fresh plans for a traveller transit site in November

Labour Cllr Nicole Meardon, cabinet member for children and families, added: “It’s really important that we do hear the voice of the gypsy and traveller community because we don’t always hear it, we don’t actually make the effort to go out all the time and hear it.”

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