COMMUNITY mediators are being brought in to help Gargrave cope with the annual arrival of gypsies and travellers on their way to Appleby Horse Fair.

Travellers and residents could come together at a meeting chaired by a team from Restorative Justice, heard a meeting of Gargrave Parish Council.

It would be the first time the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner-funded organisation has been brought in to help a community impacted by the annual movement of gypsies and travellers on their way to and from Cumbria.

It would be a chance for all sides to have their say before further meetings to put forward suggested solutions, heard last week’s council meeting.

The parish council is also developing a separate plan ahead of next summer’s Appleby Fair, including the possible building of post and rail fencing around a section of one of the village’s greens most impacted by the travelling community.

At the monthly meeting of the parish council, David Pascoe, a former Lancashire police officer of 27 years and now North Yorkshire delivery manager for Restorative Justice, said the not-for-profit organisation brought offenders and victims together, working with police, the probation service and local authorities.

It also carried out ‘community conferencing’ which he said could be used in Gargrave.

A series of meetings, starting in January, would be chaired by his team and involve residents, police and North Yorkshire Council.

He said as a member of a hate crime committee in North Yorkshire, which included members of the gypsy and traveller communities, he could get contacts for groups who stay in Gargrave.

Mr Pascoe, who told the meeting how community conferencing had helped solve anti-social behaviour at a York shopping centre, said it was about talking to those affected, and what could be done to find an acceptable compromise.

He said: “At the first meeting, we invite everyone we possibly can and also the professionals, the council and other statutory bodies; we chair the meeting, and everyone else, such as the police, are guests to the meeting.

“We ask people how they are affected and what the agencies are doing to address these concerns.”

At the end of the meeting, residents are asked what they would like to see happen in ‘an ideal world’.

“I appreciate we cannot put a massive bubble around Gargrave to protect it,” he added.

He said ideas such as post and rail fencing could be taken on board, but there would have to be discussions around cost and whether that was possible.

He also suggested the use of filming and taking photographs of travellers was not a good idea as it could be seen as “poking a bear” and that it was not “conducive to the harmonious engagement” between two groups.

His team would not “take ownership” but would co-ordinate and structure possible solutions with the advantage it is an impartial agency, he said.

Since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, Gargrave has experienced higher numbers of gypsies and travellers passing through and staying for days at a time in the village.

For the last two years, sometimes explosive meetings of the parish council have heard of anti-social behaviour, leaving residents feeling anxious and frightened to leave their homes.

A strategy put forward by the parish council ahead of last year’s horse fair had little impact with the result a working group of residents and parish councillors has been putting together a new plan, including the possible building of post and rail fencing around the ‘triangle’ – the green in front of River Place.

Councillor Gregory Butt, chair of the parish council, told last week’s meeting that it was not a case of “either, or” but for both the plans of the working party and Restorative Justice to work together to achieve the best outcome for the village.