Bloody travellers

[donkey too]

I have spent weeks talking to local councillors and other interested people about the advantages of having Motor Home parking places in or near our town and Country Park. The only objection seems to be that they will atract the travelling comunity and all the problems that they bring with them and leave behind them. OK we have always had a problem in this area but thought that we had it beat about five years ago when I was on the council. But the new council members are wary.
Anyway this morning I pops down to Aldi who have just installed a 2 hour restriction on parking, and what do I see but Travellers taking up a whole row of parking spaces, with dog pens etc and all the rubbish that they accumolate. (How can they get so much rubbish in just one overnight spell?) But the thing that is realy hitting home here with the locals is that the travellers are in Bloody great motor homes. Albeit one is towing a caravan as well.
I see it as weeks on work on my part just gone down the drain.:sad:

 

[Deleted member 967]

Has the authority provided facilities for travellers. I do not just mean a site that travellers can settle on, but also sites that travellers can use on a casual basic as in the "Aire de Genes" that all villages/towns in France, with over a certain population, are required to provide. These are in addition to the Aire de Service that we use.

When authorities were required by law to provide sites for travellers they did provided sites. However they put rules such as no commercial vehicles. They also closed them from October to Easter. They paid lip service to the law, they didn't comply. This legal requirement was withdrawn in 1975 after pressure by the authorities.

One of these sites is still standing derelict with the toilet block now demolished near where I used to live. The authority sold the wardens house and just put up barriers to this hard standing site. Just before it closed it was full of static holiday vans. The other adjacent authorities sites are now all privately owned commercial caravan sites. We still have a problem of travellers parking where they can, as the one official travellers site is now full of static "travelling" families.

 

[Tbear]

I have spent weeks talking to local councillors and other interested people about the advantages of having Motor Home parking places in or near our town and Country Park. The only objection seems to be that they will atract the travelling comunity and all the problems that they bring with them and leave behind them. OK we have always had a problem in this area but thought that we had it beat about five years ago when I was on the council. But the new council members are wary.
Anyway this morning I pops down to Aldi who have just installed a 2 hour restriction on parking, and what do I see but Travellers taking up a whole row of parking spaces, with dog pens etc and all the rubbish that they accumolate. (How can they get so much rubbish in just one overnight spell?) But the thing that is realy hitting home here with the locals is that the travellers are in Bloody great motor homes. Albeit one is towing a caravan as well.
I see it as weeks on work on my part just gone down the drain.:sad:

Hi Donkey too,

I put a lot of time and effort into Peterborough council last year until I was passed onto Parking who just ignored all my emails. The members of the council with slightly better manners all had a storey to tell about travellers.
I am sure the answer is to provide parking for all but to police it. If you park your car in a town centre and don't buy a ticket, you get towed away. Don't pay the fine it gets crushed. David Cameron wants the council houses taken off rioting yobs. Why are are these people given immunity from the law? If they abuse their vans - crush the bl**dy things. If they want to play the game then support them with reasonable parking, water and sewage disposal. Make a small charge for it in loo of council tax, which the rest of us have to pay.

Richard

 

[donkey too]

This is just the very point. We have a bran new site with hard standings water etc., etc. but it is not used by travellers as they have to pay for it. And why not I say. As I had to pay my council tax to pay for the building of the site. Previousely this year we had a load of them parked up for 6 weeks just a few hundred yards from the officia;l site. and the ruined a very nice area to the tune of over 20,000 pounds. Why should these people have consessions? They should pay the same as the rest of us. If they dont want to abide by the rules then they should be towed away and theri vehicles crushed. I supose we would have to house them then out of the council tax?
But I realy believe if they don't contribute to the the local economy they have no rights in that locallity.

 

[ArenqueRojo]

I dispair of ever seeing the UK getting this sorted out.
I, too, as a local councillor tried to get our council to face up to its obligations but there are no votes in that attitude and many against...
Many councillors and officers do not know the difference between New Age Travellers, Tinkers, Romanies, Gypsies or Old Age Travellers (that is me) for that matter.
Perhaps we need to get these people out from little England so the can see how European countries cope by not trying to curtail centuries old traditions.
In the UK, particularly, we have been going down a very sad road where we think it is OK to introduce charges for everything - even we are not sure it belongs to us.
What have we done with our Commons? Why do we believe that if there does not seem to be an obvious owner of a bit of land that it is OK for the local authority to steal it?
What happened to the public hunting rights in our forests? Does tarmacing a drover's road give a right to place a toll on its use by a drover?
There is a fundamental sickness in out society that we need to recognise and act to alleviate before it causes (more) civil unrest.
Please keep trying to get your councillors to wake up and smell the coffee.
Patrick

 

[chattellis]

agree with all said by arenque rojo and think there should be somwhere for everyone . trouble is as common with everything in uk its not in my back yard :danger::nospam:

 

[Channa]

Has the authority provided facilities for travellers. I do not just mean a site that travellers can settle on, but also sites that travellers can use on a casual basic as in the "Aire de Genes" that all villages/towns in France, with over a certain population, are required to provide. These are in addition to the Aire de Service that we use.

Out of interest has anyone ever stayed on a Aire de Genes ?

I cant be sure but 2008 I pulled on what I thought was an aire near Agen, It was reasonably late so parked up quick cuppa and bed beckoned.

The following morning it certainly appeared I was amongst the gitanes (gypsies). big gas bottles signs of long term residency etc.

Alas I was greeted with smiles and their inquisitiveness extended to who I was where I was from and what was I planning to do.

20 minutes or so explaining in my pigeon French, Lots of the customary handshaking on saying farewell I was waved off.

On leaving the site, 10 minutes or so later I passed the official aire that I was looking for.

Interestingly 2008 I returned back to England, contacted the job centre and because I have no fixed abode I.e full time I am officially classed as a traveller.

So on that basis couple of beers I can tarmac yer drive.

Channa




I learned the lesson that day not to judge a book by its cover, there is bad in all sectors of society and thankfully good too. Their hospitality and freindliness was a pleasure and I wouldnt hesitate stopping there again;

 

[Deleted member 967]

This is just the very point. We have a bran new site with hard standings water etc., etc. but it is not used by travellers as they have to pay for it. And why not I say. As I had to pay my council tax to pay for the building of the site. Previousely this year we had a load of them parked up for 6 weeks just a few hundred yards from the officia;l site. and the ruined a very nice area to the tune of over 20,000 pounds. Why should these people have consessions? They should pay the same as the rest of us. If they dont want to abide by the rules then they should be towed away and theri vehicles crushed. I supose we would have to house them then out of the council tax?
But I realy believe if they don't contribute to the the local economy they have no rights in that locallity.

I wonder home many of these "travellers" are actually Full Timing in their units. We know of many who have Caravans, Vardos and Motorhomes but also live in bricks and mortar. They hit the road to "live the old life" for the summer. They play the "Gypsy and Irish Traveller" ethnicity card. For this reason they hanker to just stop by the roadside and do not wish to be herded into camp sites. Does this ring a bell with some others on this forum.

There is absolutely no need to leave a mess. I stayed on a CL in Bedfordshire while at college in Luton and there was a lay-by near by. I saw many travellers come and go, many leaving the place in better condition than it was when they arrived. There was one group however that overstayed and trashed the place. The authorities then arrived with large rocks and blocked it off for everyone.

There are good and bad in all communities.