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                  Caravan Sites & Travellers’ Sites

                  Caravan Sites & Travellers’ Sites

                  Caravan sites were subject to licensing by local authorities in Scotland from 1960 under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960.[1] Local authorities were also empowered by this legislation to provide sites for caravans, both for temporary purposes such as holidays and for use as permanent residences.[2]  These functions were transferred to regional, islands and district councils in 1975.[3] In 1982, this was re-defined to give islands and district councils the right to provide sites for caravans but to include regional councils in the provision of sites for ‘persons of nomadic habit of life, whatever their race or origin’ except for showpeople.[4]  In 1967 local authorities were also permitted to provide camping sites for holiday or recreational purposes, as part of the legislation enabling local authorities to set up country parks.[5]

                  Prior to 1960, caravan and camping sites were controlled principally through planning legislation. Caravans and tents, however, were considered to be a form of housing and in 1897, medical officers and sanitary inspectors were given a right of entry for public health reasons to tents and vans used as mobile homes and the local authority was enabled to make byelaws ‘for promoting cleanliness’.[6]

                  More recently, efforts have been made to improve caravan and travellers’ sites along with giving travellers greater protections.[7]

                  Legislation which required English and Welsh local authorities to provide sites for travellers did not apply to Scotland.[8]

                  Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)

                  Bibliography

                  Ferguson, Keith, An introduction to local government in Scotland (The Planning Exchange, 1984)

                  McPhee, Shamus Gypsy Traveller history in Scotland (Institute for Research an Innovation in Social Services, 2017)

                   

                  [1] Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 (c.62) ss. 1-10.

                  [2] Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 (c.62) s. 24.

                  [3] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65), s.182.

                  [4] Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 (c.43) s.13.

                  [5] Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967(c.86) s.49.

                  [6] Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897 (60 & 61 Vict c. 38) s.73.

                  [7] Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 (asp. 14); Scottish Government Improving Gypsy/Traveller sites: guidance on minimum sites standards and site tenants’ core rights and responsibilities (2015) <https://www.gov.scot/publications/improving-gypsy-traveller-sites-guidance-minimum-sites-standards-site-tenants/documents/> [accessed 27 May 2021].

                  [8] Public Health Act 1936 (26 Geo. V & 1 Edw. VII, c.49) s.269; Caravan Sites Act 1968 (c.52); Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (c.33).