Consultation on travellers' living needs

Now's the time to make them heard - as part of its partial review of the South East Plan, the South East England Regional Assembly wants public reaction to proposals to meet the accommodation needs of gypsies, travellers and travelling showpeople throughout the region.

The consultation for Rother District Council will be held at the De La Warr Pavilion on Tuesday October 14.

The Assembly is consulting on four options showing how the amount of new accommodation needed could be distributed between local authority areas, but not where new sites should go, as this will be decided separately by local authorities.

Public consultation opened on September 1 and responses should be sent to the Assembly by 5.00pm on November 21 2008.

The Assembly has asked all local authorities to assist in this exercise by arranging consultation events. The dates, times and venues for East Sussex are set out below where representatives from the Assembly and the local authorities will be available to help explain the proposals and to answer questions.

The other consultations in the region will be:

- Lewes District Council - Thursday October 16: Town Hall, High Street, Lewes.

-Hastings Borough Council - Monday October 20: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Queens Road, Hastings.

-Wealden District Council - Tuesday October 21: Weald Hall, Uckfield Civic Centre, Uckfield.

-Eastbourne Borough Council '“ Monday October 28: Town Hall, Grove Road, Eastbourne.

The consultation events will run from 2.30pm until 7.30pm on the above dates. Exhibition material and a DVD will explain why provision is needed and how to respond to the consultation exercise. Response forms together with background information will also be available.

For further information please visit www.southeast-ra.gov.uk/consultations.html.