A WAY forward for dealing with an expected increase in travellers moving into the Selby area is to be discussed by councillors next week.

Analysis of the situation in the district has shown there is a shortfall of 26 pitches, with the gap in provision predicted to increase to 38 over the next five years.

Now Selby District Council is to study the report and look at how the authority’s stance on catering for travelling families should be mapped out for the future and how it can stave off potential legal challenges surrounding unauthorised camps.

The North Yorkshire-wide assessment on gipsy and traveller accommodation has revealed there are currently 195 authorised pitches across the county, with 13 vacant and a shortfall of 113.

It estimates 152 more pitches will be needed by 2015.

Selby district does not have any vacant pitches at the moment, with The Press revealing earlier this year that while seven potential sites in the area had been identified, the council missed a Government deadline to submit an application for funding to pay for them.

A report which will go before next week’s meeting said a regional strategy previously in place to give local authorities a guide to how many sites they should provide and where they should go had now been revoked by the coalition Government, meaning councils now have to take control themselves.

Steve Martin, the council’s strategic director, said: “It would be easy to discount all of the findings [of the report] with public feelings and perceptions regarding gipsies and travellers being so negative.

“But this would leave us in a vulnerable position in defending planning appeals for unauthorised sites with no evidence to support need.

“There could be further issues if we have unauthorised encampments and we seek to move the travellers on.

“The courts may be sympathetic to the travelling community if we make no provision or set targets. I would suggest a starting point for councillors in considering the report is: what is local need?”

The committee will be asked to review the report’s findings and decide which aspects of it are particularly relevant to the Selby area.