An open letter to Wychavon District

Council

In the many and varied pastoral responsibilities which are part of the lives of clergy, there is one overriding factor: conveying to those who are in particular need the love of God and the worth of their humanity. In light of this pastoral emphasis in the communities surrounding Eckington, Beckford and Pershore at present, I ask you to consider the Traveller community in its need.

These people own their land in Eckington and pay their Council tax. They are asking you to hear the case they wish to present to the Council. They are asking to have the right to live in their place, to have their children in school, and to contribute to the community. Many of these folk were born in Worcestershire and want to live here.

They are saddened, as are many of us, that the Council will only talk to them through lawyers. I am concerned that, if they move away and don't return, the Council will believe the problem to have gone away and nothing more will happen. But the issue is far deeper than that. It's not simply a question of who will and who won't speak to whom: it's a question of what it means to be a District Council and to be people living within its jurisdiction.

I believe that, once elected, you're there to serve the community. That service means making sure that people respect each other and the law, but at the same time making sure that all people are cared for within your jurisdiction. This means caring for fixed abode residents and people whose way of life is itinerant. It means accepting those whose culture and history are different as well as those who've grown up in that community.

In 2004, you came to Pershore Abbey for a Service to begin the Chairman's year of office. In that service, you dedicated yourselves to the whole community. Next month we will welcome you again to the Abbey to mark the beginning of the Chairman's Year of Office. The new Chairman has chosen the theme of love for her Service and the 13th Chapter of Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians as the principal reading.

In accordance with this pledge of service and love, I ask you as a Council to have compassion for the whole Community, to enter into discussion with the Traveller community, and to hear their story. If you're willing to do this, I would hope that both you and the Travellers could gain a new, mutual understanding. I appeal to your humanity and your sense of true service as a District Council.

THE REV Kenneth Crawford, Pershore Abbey, Worcestershire.