September 2026: Behind the Headlines: Why Romani (Gypsy) and Irish Traveller Families Are Building Sites "Over the Weekend"

By TM’s Policy and Research Officer

The Traveller Movement does not support unauthorised development and recognises that planning regulations exist for important reasons, including environmental protection, infrastructure planning and community relations. However, any meaningful discussion must also consider why some families resort to these measures. When authorised sites are unavailable or insufficient to meet identified need, families can find themselves facing impossible choices. The long-term solution should not be  unauthorised development, but ensuring that enough authorised, culturally appropriate sites are provided through the planning system so that families have lawful options available to them.

“Fury as huge traveller site in UK countryside built in single weekend.” That was the Express headline in May 2026, describing how around 30 lorries descended on a field near Felsted in Essex under cover of darkness, delivering hardcore, fencing and septic tanks over a bank holiday weekend. Villagers called it a “military operation.” Braintree MP Sir James Cleverly said those responsible were “gaming the system.”  Its very similar language to what has come to be the norm when describing migrants and asylum seekers – a language that is intended to ‘other’.

A few months later, the BBC reported that unauthorised traveller sites are expanding as the population grows, but with a crucial detail tucked away in the copy: between April 2023 and February 2026, permission was granted for just 31 new Gypsy and Traveller pitches across England.

Thirty-one pitches. In nearly three years. That is the truth behind the story, that didnt make the headlines.

The numbers that matter

Let’s put this in context. The 2021 Census recorded 71,440 people identifying as Romani (Gypsy) or Irish Traveller in England and Wales.  Charities and researchers agree this is a significant undercount. Many don’t disclose their ethnicity to authorities due to historic distrust and experience of systemic racism. The real figure is estimated at between 300,000 to 500,000 across the UK. Of those who identify as Gypsy or Irish Traveller, 22% live in caravans or mobile structures which is historically their culturally appropriate home. Yet in January 2024, there were just 26,632 Traveller caravans in England, and only 4,476 pitches on local authority or social housing sites.

The result? Over 3,000 families have no lawful place to stop, and around 10,000 people are living on land without permission.

How did we get here?

Under the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (PPTS) and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), local authorities are required to assess need and identify five years’ worth of deliverable sites.  In identifying the need for additional pitches in their areas, Local or Regional Authorities are required to undertake a Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment (GTANA).   The London GTANA is an example of how regionally the need from each London borough is captured in a single regional strategy.  As Traveller Movement research (2025) identified, when left to Local Councils, the requirement is not always fulfilled.  Across this sample of London Boroughs only 78% had a GTANA, and of these most were outdated, with some stretching back to 2016.   A regional strategy helps provide checks and balances to ensure that each Borough has an up to date identified need.

But there’s a catch even when a GTANA has been completed: there is no longer any ring-fenced capital grant to fund new sites. During the last funded period (2011–2015), only around 70% of target pitches were actually delivered, with some councils handing funding back because they couldn’t secure planning permission or purchase land.

Meanwhile, the number of caravans on socially rented sites fell by 4% in a year, even as private authorised sites grew by 13%.

Families are investing their own money to create stability because the state has stepped back.

A failure of planning, not just planning permission

Nobody is suggesting that turning a field into a hardstanding site overnight is the ideal way to go about things. Planning laws exist for good reason , drainage, environmental impact, and neighbourly relations all matter. But when the authorised route delivers just 31 new pitches in three years, and over 3,000 families have nowhere lawful to stop, we have to ask: what did we expect to happen?

The communities aren’t asking for special treatment. They’re asking for the same thing every family wants: a safe, culturally appropriate place to live, raise children, and access education and healthcare. When local authorities consistently fail to provide that through the proper channels, families are left with an impossible choice – live without a home, or build one themselves.

The headlines will always focus on the “fury” and the “weekend build.” But the real story is the years of inaction that made it inevitable. The truth behind the headlines is that this isn’t a crisis of unauthorised development – it’s a crisis of authorised provision.