Enough is enough... it’s time to get to grips with this situation

THERE has to come a point at which the townsfolk, the Travellers, and even the local councillors will feel compelled to say: “enough is enough”.

Yet another desperate unauthorised encampment has resulted in yet another ugly scene in Doveridge and a decision has been made under delegated powers to shepherd one of the two groups of caravans to Ashbourne.

The News Telegraph visited the coach park, which is earmarked as a potential “temporary tolerated site”, on Monday afternoon, and there was one coach parked up, along with several cars. That coach may have been carrying over 50 visitors, who were all ready to prop up the town’s economy. And that was just one coach. There’s a whole row of coach spaces.

We visited again on Tuesday morning and the car park was heaving. So many people had been trying to park there that drivers were resorting to leaving cars on the doubleyellow lines outside the entrance.

The hospital car park was full, the health centre car park was full, and every space in the car park was taken up - including a coach bay put into use by one brave camper van driver.

We can’t afford to lose car parking spaces in that part of town, let alone coach parking spaces. Yet, where could the Travellers go if it isn’t in that particular spot? They apparently have urgent medical needs, so we can’t just dump them anywhere.

In the long run, it’s time for the district council to grasp the nettle. They have powers of compulsory purchase and the Derbyshire Dales is blessed with acre upon acre of land out of the way from conurbations.

Is it perhaps now time for a heavy-handed approach to settle this awful situation once and for all? Because sitting and waiting for a piece of land to appear out of thin air just hasn’t been working.