Travellers' fears at rehab unit plan
Claims that drugs users will endanger children at caravan site

JAMES ROUGVIE

TRAVELLING people in Fife are protesting at plans to site a rehabilitation
unit for people with drug, drink and mental health problems next door to
their temporary home.

The travellers at a council site outside Cupar fear for their children's
safety from drunks and discarded needles at Tarvit Mill, a disused mansion
which will house the project, but which is immediately adjacent to the
caravan park. Ironically, many of the travellers have been harassed
themselves because of their lifestyles.

The Tarvit Mill caravan park was set up several years ago to provide
travellers with a fully serviced site. It has washhouse facilities,
electricity and running water. The 50 or so adults in the 20 caravans have
voted Tarvit the best site in Scotland. But the tranquillity of the site, a
mile and a half south of Cupar, looks certain to be shattered if the plan
by Fife Council goes ahead.

An earlier proposal to use Tarvit Mill to house the homeless foundered in
the face of travellers' opposition.

The council also conceded that the hostel was not ideal due to its isolated
position and lack of 24hour cover.

The latest proposal is aimed at being the first to bring young adults with
a dual diagnosis of chronic mental health problems, exacerbated by alcohol
or drugs, together for rehabilitation under one roof until they are ready
to move into mainstream housing.

Seven patients will be offered health care 24 hours a day by a local
consultant psychiatrist, a GP and a psychiatric nurse, although only one
member of staff will spend the night there.

The project is aimed at modifying the chaotic lifestyles of the patients in
the hope of reducing their needs for illicit substances.

But the travellers, who still experience harassment in other parts of the
country, have raised a petition against the plan, and many have said they
will leave if it becomes a reality.

Lisa McAllister, 20, who is expecting her first child and has only recently
moved into the site, said yesterday she would move out if the house was
converted. "I came from Norfolk and this place is great. It is full and
there are a lot of kids running around and I think the council has made a
bad decision."

She said many of the other travellers have voiced similar reservations. "I
don't think we would mind the homeless now, but I wouldn't want my children
amongst addicts and drunks."

Mary Reid, 36, a mother of three teenagers and a former nurse who said she
had worked in the mental health sector, thought Tarvit Mill would require
extensive conversion to become suitable for the type of patients described.

She said: "I have nothing against alcohol, but we are talking about drug
addicts who will be dropping needles while there are a hundred of our
children playing around this area."

The impression was, she said, of the council using Tarvit as a dumping
ground, pointing out that nearby Stratheden Hospital outside Cupar had a
good reputation for dealing with the mentally ill. She took issue with
claims by the council that contact had been made with the travellers with a
view to ensuring their privacy.

"Noone has been near us, because I would have been able to tell them these
people will be running riot and firing their needles out of the windows."

She had intended to settle down for the winter, she said, but was now
having second thoughts.

"If it happens, we will be back on the road again. These people need help,
but in a hospital unit, not a place like this which is in the middle of
nowhere."

Two cousins, John and Alec Townsley, said there were genuine fears for the
safety of the children, and warned that there could even be action to stop
people moving into Tarvit Mill.

Julie Fulton, a Fife Council social work manager, said the project was the
only one of its type in Scotland to offer support to young people with
mental health problems moving back into the community.

She said there had been extensive consultation with a number of local
groups and there had been no objections as far as she was aware.

The unit would be a mile outside Cupar and would provide a quiet
environment for rehabilitation while offering access to the wider
community. Project staff would available seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

She said: "We are confident that this is an exciting and worthwhile project
which will benefit people in need of help and we look to the local
community to support these vulnerable people."