FIFE Council wants new powers to evict gypsy travellers from unauthorised encampments on private land after a summer of “significant disruption”.

But they’re also having to identify new seasonal sites across the Kingdom, including West Fife, where they can stay and the pilot areas are set to be announced in December. The council has already lobbied the Scottish Government about a change in the law and a report to Tuesday’s executive committee said, “There is an identified need to change the current Scottish legislation to empower the council to seek legal action to evict gypsy travellers from unauthorised encampments on private ground.” During this year’s travelling season, there have been 45 evictions from unauthorised encampments with the council having to pay £30,500 in legal fees, management and clean-up costs. This does not include costs incurred by private landowners.

At Robertson Road in Dunfermline, the council has now erected a height barrier after travellers moved onto the site in August, the third time in a year, without permission.

Locals said they would not be welcome back as the area was left in a mess and “used as a toilet”. The council report said, “The main focus for policy review is the need to ensure that alternatives to unauthorised encampments are identified and that clearer and more timeous action is taken to remove encampments, particularly when the encampments are large and located in sensitive areas.

“It is recognised that the overwhelming majority of encampments are small and work co-operatively with council officers and police to minimise disruption to the surrounding communities.” Over the past decade, the council has spent £2.4million dealing with gypsy traveller encampments and has revised the Fife Co-operation Policy, set up in 2011, and sought legal advice on what they can and cannot do.

They’ve also spoken to other councils, such as Aberdeen, about the use of local bye-laws to restrict such camps from certain parts of Fife.

And they want a change in the law to allow them to help private landowners evict travellers from private land.

While they want to take tougher action to deal with the issue, they are also having to find accommodation for gypsy travellers or risk Scottish Government intervention. A task group has been identifying seasonal sites in the Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes and Dunfermline areas, a short list has been drawn up and consultations with local councillors, Police Scotland, Fife Chamber of Commerce and local businesses should be complete by the end of November.

The report said it was a “spend-to-save” initiative and that seasonal sites could be established at the edge of business parks “where gypsy travellers have tended to set up unauthorised encampments”.

The council conceded “this is controversial in the light of concerns expressed by business leaders” in the wake of large encampments in Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes in the summer and that the “provision of extra sites in itself was unlikely to eliminate unauthorised encampments in inappropriate locations”.

But it added, “There is absolutely no point in locating sites in other locations where gypsy travellers are not prepared to go.

“The status quo would prevail and we would be back to square one.”