Enhanced accommodation for members of the travelling community in Perth and Kinross was officially opened last weekend at the Double Dykes site on the outskirts of Perth, by Housing & Health Convener Councillor Peter Barrett.

The 20 new chalets on the site replace the caravans previously used by travelling community residents at Double Dykes and provide more modern accommodation for the residents, with each chalet having three bedrooms and a separate dining area.

Residents on site were fully consulted throughout the project, which was partly funded by the Scottish Government and the then Scottish Executive and has cost around £1m in total.

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Residents were also able to decide from a range of options on the layout for their kitchen, window locations and bathroom facilities. The chalets were supplied by Tingdene and the main contractor on site was Hadden Construction. Work began in August 2007 on the project and has taken approximately a year to complete.

Councillor Barrett said this has been an important project for the Council and the traveller community in Perth and Kinross.

"The new chalets provide long-term, high-quality accommodation for residents and have significantly improved the provision available for members of our local gypsy traveller community at Double Dykes. I would like to thank everyone involved for their commitment to bringing this project to fruition and especially the residents, Housing & Community Care staff and our contractors Hadden Construction."

(GK/JM)