Gypsy and traveller sites likened to "Glastonbury after 15 days" will be spruced up with the help of a £1 million cash injection.

Work on the facilities at Stilebridge Lane in Marden and Water Lane in Ulcombe will be carried out to improve washing and sanitary provision, metering for water and electric supply, and the poor condition of communal roads and street lighting.

The two sites, which are owned by Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) and managed by Kent County Council, have a total of 32 mobile home plots between them.

On Tuesday evening the MBC communities, housing and environment committee unanimously approved the recommendation that council officers proceed with the refurbishment project.

Cllr Martin Round, whose Headcorn ward is home to the Water Lane site, welcomed the planned upgrades at the two locations.

"My opinion is that we don't do enough to support the gypsy community," he said. "Having two gypsy and traveller sites, in terms of numbers, they are not adequate and the quality of them is not good enough.

"The Water Lane site is like an old house that be deteriorating with neglect. The facilities there are like going to Glastonbury after 15 days, it's not pleasant. We should not be treating human being like that.

"It's effectively a housing and community need, which is why I lobbied a number of members of the committee to say there should be a lot more done proactively to support the gypsy and traveller population."

Cllr Round estimates that around one in 100 members of the national gypsy and traveller community reside in the Headcorn ward and surrounding areas.

Addressing the scale of the planned budget, he insisted the investment in managed and regulated sites for the community would reduce the overall burden on the taxpayer in the long run.

"If it doesn't get addressed now it will get worse later," he said. "We are basically playing catch up, there's still more work that needs to be done.

"It's small fry when you consider the money we spend on enforcement for sites where there is no planning permission."

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