AN assessment of any need for Gypsy and Traveller sites including temporary stopping places in one part of Gwent is to get underway.

Monmouthshire County Council’s Labour and Green Party cabinet has agreed to hold the assessment which is a legal requirement for all local authorities in Wales. In July, the council and Gwent Police managed an unauthorised encampment at Caldicot Leisure Centre.

Councillor Angela Sandles, the cabinet member for equalities, said the council has to establish a multi-agency steering group to oversee the process while advocacy group Travelling Ahead will also act as a “critical friend”.

It will also help the council identify and consult with individual households and Cllr Sandles said: “The assessment will not be done to the Gypsy and Traveller community but with them involved.”

The assessment has to be completed by February 2027 and Cllr Sandles said: “The final assessment report will consider options to address any identified need whether through public or private provision.”

She also remained the cabinet the council’s replacement local development plan, which is currently subject to an ongoing public examination by independent inspectors, has proposed a seven pitch permanent site on land at Bradbury Farm, Crick to meet the need identified by the previous assessment in 2021.

She said if the development plan is approved for adoption by the council it will move to the design stage for the proposed site at Bradbury Farm.

A draft of the assessment report is likely to be considered by the council’s people scrutiny committee in January while the cabinet could be asked to approve and adopt it in February. The final assessment will still have to be approved by the Welsh Government.