Officer admits code of conduct cannot be enforced until new site is found
A SENIOR council officer has admitted that the district council’s own code of conduct, which states Travellers must behave appropriately on temporary tolerated sites or face eviction, cannot be enforced until an alternative site has been found to move them to.
Director of Regulatory Services responded to a question from Ashbourne ward member Stuart Lees at last week’s full council meeting, over when an enforcement can be brought if Travellers are not adhering to the code. He claimed the Travellers currently camping on Ashbourne’s Clifton Road Coach and Car Park were in breach of every point in the code, and asked “when the time was right” to start enforcing it.
He said: “We’ve got this list of musts, and must nots - when is the time right to enforce this code of conduct? Because as I read this list the Traveller families that we have at the moment, there’s not one item on this code of conduct that’s being adhered to.”
Mr Braund, responding, said: “When an alternative site has been identified. We have to have an alternative site to move them to and, at the moment, there hasn’t been one identified.”
The code of conduct requires all “caravan occupiers” staying on a temporary tolerated site or unauthorised encampments to keep groups of caravans small, keep the site clean and tidy, keep noise to a minimum, use toilets when provided, keep animals under control, dispose of litter and respect the local community.
The groups must not allow any other caravans on the site, other than those that have been logged on the initial visit, they must not engage in anti-social behaviour or criminal activity, and they must not cause any damage to facilities or trees.
If any of these rules are broken, the code of conduct adds, travellers could be evicted immediately and fines could be issued.