Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Development Plan Document

Disagree

As you may know we are a well-established hotel that plays an active and positive role within our local community. Our priority has always been to provide a safe, welcoming, and respectful environment for our guests, staff, and neighbouring businesses. When considering our business, we are required to assess our ability to meet our duty of care, safeguarding obligations, insurance requirements, and the overall impact on other guests and the wider community. Based on previous experiences and operational assessments, we have identified that certain types of groups present significant challenges in relation to safety, emotional wellbeing of other guests, financial risk, and the effective management of our premises. In particular, we have found that we are not equipped to safely or appropriately accommodate large or non-standard group arrangements that fall outside our operating model. These situations have, in the past, resulted in heightened safeguarding concerns, disruption to other guests, and financial and operational pressures that we are unable to responsibly sustain. For these reasons, and in order to act in the best interests of all parties, we are unable to support the request and implementation of a ’Gypsy, traveller and travelling showpeople site’ at the requested location of Bearsted/Thurnhma (site ref 008) as we have determined it would negatively impact the safety, comfort, or wellbeing of our guests, staff, and community. This position is based solely on operational capability and risk assessment, and not on personal characteristics of any individual or group. We remain committed to working positively within our community and supporting inclusive outcomes wherever possible, while also ensuring that our hotel operates safely, fairly, and responsibly.