Travellers
INJUNCTION HALTS WORK AMID ‘DISASTER’ FEARS
A Gwent council has won a High Court injunction against travellers digging up tons of earth amid concerns about potential landslips. More than 600 people living in NANTYGLO signed a petition against the excavation work on land bought by a traveller group but with no planning permission sought for any work. Despite this, what was a hill has been dug out. Blaenau Gwent council served a stop notice on the work and secured an interim High Court injunction to stop further digging. The order remained in place until a court hearing scheduled for June. Residents are worried that the excavation could have devastating consequences. The town is less than 10 miles away from where the Aberfan disaster occurred in 1966, when spoil heaps collapsed, killing 144 people, including 116 children. The petition was set up by Yvonne Bell and she said: “Some of the more elderly residents around here are terrified of what’s happening.” Land registry documents show a covenant on the land, stating it can only be used for grazing. A spokesman for the travellers said the work was being done because the council was not providing them with the ‘right needs’ and that they were only doing up their own property.
Clerks & Councils Direct, July 2024
COUNCILS GET INJUNCTION HELP
The Supreme Court has ruled that courts can grant injunctions to local authorities to prevent unidentified TRAVELLERS from stopping on their land. A ruling from five judges of the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision to grant courts the power to hand out so-called ‘newcomer’ injunctions. The justices, whose ruling was supported by Lords Hodge and Lloyd-Jones, said the injunctions could be granted if there was a ‘compelling need’ for them and that the rights of those affected were protected. Councils can currently issue Section 77 notices, which gives them the power to direct individuals to remove people’s vehicles and belongings and to leave the land, without the consent of the occupier of the land. Failure to comply with the order or returning within three months is a criminal offence with a penalty of a fine of up to £1,000.
Clerks & Councils Direct, March 2024
LAWS TIGHTENED ON ILLEGAL CAMPS
THE Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, introduced on 28 June, has given police forces in England and Wales new powers to act against unauthorised encampments, where Travellers set up camp illegally on other people’s land or in local communities.
Police will now be able to ban trespassers from returning to a patch of land for a year rather than just three months. The definition of harm is also being broadened, with officers able to intervene when unauthorised encampments cause environmental damage or distress to the community and not just to a landowner. For the first time, unauthorised encampments on highways will be covered, as well as on public and private land.
Under new statutory guidance from the Home Office, the harms potentially caused by unauthorised encampments can include excessive littering, noise or smell, including from bonfire smoke; local residents being verbally abused or intimidated; communities being unable to access sports fields, parks or car parks; and damage to property or land, including farmland.
A new criminal offence means that if people do not leave when asked to by the police or by a landowner, they may be liable to a prison sentence of up to three months or a fi ne of up to £2,500, or both, and/ or seizure of their vehicle.
According to the Home Office, the number of authorised traveller pitches increased by 41 per cent between January 2010 and January 2020, and the government has launched a £10 million capital grant fund for 2022/23 to support local authorities in England to provide accommodation for Travellers.
Clerks & Councils Direct, September 2022
COMMITTEE WARNING ON TRAVELLERS’ RIGHTS
THE government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill risks having a disproportionate impact on the rights of Gypsies, Roma and Travellers, a parliamentary inquiry warned in early July, before the parliamentary summer recess.
Among many other proposed changes to the justice system, the legislation will give police more powers to tackle unauthorised encampments. However, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) made a number of recommendations for amendments.
Its chair, Harriet Harman MP, said: “This Bill takes a major step in making it a criminal offence for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities to be on private land without consent. The JCHR has made a number of proposals to clarify and limit these new offences to ensure that the human rights of these communities are respected at the same time as landowners have their property rights protected.”
The committee argued that the government “should not use criminal law to address what is essentially a planning issue”. It added: “[Such] communities often have little option available to them other than unauthorised encampments, because local authorities are failing to build a sufficient number of authorised sites.”
It also argued that, if unauthorised encampments are criminalised, the government should “reintroduce a statutory duty on local authorities to make adequate site provision for traveller communities. This would likely have a much greater effect on reducing the number of unauthorised encampments than the imposition of a new criminal offence.”
It warned that the Bill in its current form is likely to be in breach of the right to respect for private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The vast majority of Travellers are law-abiding [but] unauthorised encampments reflect badly on the law-abiding Traveller community. It’s therefore right we are giving the police the powers they need to address this issue, and the government will continue its work to provide more authorised sites for Travellers to reside on. We expect police to treat all communities with respect and enforcement decisions will absolutely not be made on the basis of ethnicity or race.”
The Bill is currently awaiting its second reading in the House of Lords.
Clerks & Councils Direct, September 2021
A controversial application for a traveller site near the village of MIDDLETON was turned down in June after North Northamptonshire Council received 354 objections. The Area Planning Committee recommended refusal, arguing that the development would have a significant adverse impact on the landscape and character of the area. A summary of material planning reasons for objection included concerns about highway safety including increased traffic and dangerous access, the number of existing traveller sites, harm to visual amenity and the rural character of the area and environmental damage, including impact on the River Welland. Letters of objection included one from local MP Tom Pursglove, and Middleton and East Carlton parish councils also opposed the application.
Clerks & Councils Direct, July 2021
EXPANSION OPPOSED
PULBOROUGH Parish Council in West Sussex has backed residents objecting to plans to expand a gypsy and traveller site. This was welcomed by a residents’ action group, Codmore Against Rural Decline (CARD), which has been campaigning against plans for the site in Codmore Hill.
Phil Hale, chair of CARD, said: “We’re very encouraged by the parish council’s clear support. The original permissions granted for this site ignored the views of the local community. Now we face a situation with far greater consequences and urge Horsham District Council to take note.”
The district council granted conditional permission in September 2019 for two pitches, according to CARD, but a spokesman said: “Plans submitted last month propose a massive intensification, totalling six mobile home pitches, six caravan pitches and space for up to 12 vehicles.”
A spokesman for the parish council said that the plans would “overwhelm the character” of the area. Consultations were set to end in April, with the district council making a decision on 25 May.
Clerks & Councils Direct, May 2020