Travellers
(Agenda item added to the agenda at the request of the Area Committee of the County Association of Local Councils)
It would be very much appreciated if the District would take a lead in providing parishes with an action pack setting out what to do, who to contact (with numbers) in the event of either the arrival of travellers on a piece of parish owned land or in the event of travellers starting to put in infrastructure for a "permanent" site outside working hours.
Minutes:
Mrs. S. Sellers - Senior Solicitor - addressed the Forum in connection with this item on the Agenda, submitted on behalf of all Parish Councils within the District by CALC. She stated that issues concerning travellers could broadly be divided into two categories:-
1. Travellers who arrive on private land for a temporary period of time before moving on again; and
2. Travellers who move onto a private area of land at the start of, for example, a Bank Holiday weekend, and then start construction of the infrastructure for a 'permanent' site, outside of normal office hours.
Mrs. Sellers stated that in the case of 1. above she would ask her colleagues in the Legal Services Team to collate some information and basic guidelines, including a list of local solicitors who specialise in dealing with 'short-stay' travellers on private land, in order that the Parish Councils know what to do in case areas of their land are occupied in this way. She added that, unfortunately, the District Councils Legal Services Team was not large enough to offer a service involving the making of Court Applications, etc., so each Parish Council would have to take it's own independent advice.
In the case of 2. above, Mrs. Sellers stated that, should such activity commence during office hours, the Customer Service Centre should be informed as soon as possible in order that action can be taken as soon as possible.
However, Mrs. Bamford added that, where such activity commences outside office hours, the Council's 'After Hours Emergency Service' should be telephoned (available via a recorded message from the Customer Service Centre - 01527 871565) in order to inform the 'on-duty' member of the Corporate Management Team who would then respond accordingly, if it was found to be appropriate Council activity to be followed up.
In response to a question raised by the Forum, it was pointed out that both Bromsgrove and Redditch needed more travellers' sites to which temporary / transient travellers could be moved, but no land for potential sites had been identified. Furthermore, a question was raised in respect of the approach West Mercia Constabulary may take now that a new Chief Constable had been appointed. The Chairman responded by stating that the Local Strategic Partnership could be asked to raise the issue, as well as making an approach to the Chairman of the West Mercia Police Authority. This was noted.