Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

A Conservative green paper has come up with new ideas,

Conservative Party proposals to stop gypsies and travellers applying for retrospective planning permission have not found universal favour.

The green paper on planning is not officially published yet but proposes a new criminal offence of intentional trespass. The paper also says that councils should be compensated for providing new traveller sites.

Bob Neill (shadow local government and planning minister) has written a blog entry on the Conservative web site saying 'For too long a small minority of travellers and squatters have been given the green light to exploit the rules and occupy illegal or unauthorised sites. The British public wants to see fair play for all'.

However, organisations working with gypsies and travellers say that these plans will increase the problem of illegal sites.