IT is blackthorny old subject. Where should our councils put gypsy and traveller sites?

Frankly? I haven’t got the foggiest and can understand why many people are worried. But this time the question isn’t going away, is it?

Level heads are needed.

Gypsies and travellers have lived and roamed in Britain for 500 years and it is important to remember that most live in houses or on authorised sites and only one in five traveller caravans are on unauthorised sites. And the overwhelming majority are as law-abiding as, well, me.

Whatever stereotypes and prejudices may exist, the official Communities and Local Government report in June reminded us: “Gypsies and travellers face the most serious disadvantages of all ethnic groups with a much shorter life expectancy, low income and poor access to finance.

“Their children have high mortality rates and the lowest educational attainment.”

And, the Whitehall report says, the trend in trespass by travellers is going down and 83 per cent of their caravans are on authorised land.

But the flip is that 17 per cent aren’t and it looks like this time councils won’t be able to bury their heads in the sand in the hope that this age-old matter will conveniently disappear.

But finding suitable sites is a tough job indeed.

What doesn’t help community cohesion or quell resentments, however, are situations like the Dale Farm stand-off in Essex where planning law has been broken by one group resisting eviction.

Isn’t there something ironic in a particular group wanting their travelling culture to be respected but not respecting the law... and travellers who are fighting to stay put?