Government traveller camp plans a 'real worry' for Sandwell
A Black Country council chief has attacked Government over plans to move travellers from other areas to places with temporary holding sites.
Sandwell Council's regeneration boss Paul Moore said the news of how the Government plans to deal with unauthorised encampments in the future was 'a real worry'.
It was recently announced that Government was considering allowed travellers to be moved from areas without a transit site to those with a transit site – such as Sandwell.
Councillor Moore said it would be unfair for Sandwell to have to deal with the issue on behalf of the Black Country, due to the council being 'proactive in creating a transit site'.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid has outlined four measures the Government will be looking at following public consultation on unauthorised encampments – including the potential to permit the police to direct trespassers across council boundaries to a neighbouring authority with a transit site.
Other measures include extending the period someone can be banned from returning to an area after trespassing from three months to 12 months; lowering the minimum number of vehicles considered to represent an unauthorised encampment from six to two; and enabling the police to remove trespassers from the highway in areas without a transit site.
Redirecting trespassers labelled a 'real worry'
Councillor Moore, who is Sandwell Council's cabinet member for regeneration and economic investment, said he welcomed three of the four measures the Government was looking at.
But he said: "There’s potential for the police to be dispersing encampments from four other local authority areas into Sandwell, which is a real worry for us.
“From the national perspective, there are relatively few of these transit sites around the country, so for many authorities this won’t solve the problem as for many councils, there is not a bordering authority with a transit site anyway.
“The other steps outlined by the government do seem sensible and we would welcome them.
“But it would be unfair to leave Sandwell dealing with this issue on behalf of the whole Black Country just because we have been proactive in creating a transit site.
"In the event that Sandwell’s transit site is used by other authorities, it could reduce our abilities to manage unauthorised encampments.
“We will be seeking clarity from the Government on how this would work as our concern is that this move could deter other authorities from taking the decision to create their own transit sites.”
Fall in number of illegal camps
Sandwell Council has cut the number of unauthorised encampments coming to the borough by 94 per cent in the last two years.
The cost of dealing with the issue – including clean-up costs, court fees and bailiff charges – has fallen from £250,000 in 2016/17 to just £10,000 in 2017/18.
The transit site has been in use since September 2017.
