Family ‘refuses’ to move off official traveller site Call for action as other groups pitch up across Birmingham
ASINGLE family has refused to move from Birmingham’s official traveller camp for more than 25 years – as other groups repeatedly set up camp across the city.
The site in Tameside Drive, Castle Bromwich, is occupied by the Dohertys, a family who have allegedly refused to move.
They appeared on the site between 1987 and 1991 but have stayed ever since – fighting off attempts by the council to evict them.
Other traveller groups now claim the Dohertys intimidate and deter them from using the site, an allegation denied by the family’s lawyers.
But the fact remains that few others have set up camp there despite there being legal pitches.
This week West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson criticised the “disgraceful behaviour” of other travellers who refused to leave a school car park, forcing hundreds of pupils to miss lessons. The council eventually used common law powers to evict the group from the grounds of Shenley Academy, in Weoley Castle, on Monday, two days after they ignored a formal notice to leave.
The official Castle Bromwich traveller site has 20 caravan pitches situated under the M6 and once boasted sparkling washrooms, a toilet block and cleaning facilities which the council abandoned. Today the site is under-occupied while other travellers move around the city, sparking resentment among many residents.
In 2010 the council finally lost a six-year legal battle to evict the Doherty family. The authority claimed it should be a transit site not permanent home, but judges ruled the family had tenancy rights and could stay indefinitely. The council, which was left with a £200,000 legal bill, had to concede and walk away.
Lawyers acting for the head of the family, William Doherty, said at the time: “Our client pays his rent and does not cause nuisance or annoyance.”
The council has made at least three efforts to find an alternative site for travellers. In 2010 land at Yardley Brook Estate, on the edge of Shard End, was earmarked for a caravan site but the scheme collapsed when then Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles withdrew the funding.
More recently two sites on council car parks in Hubert Street and Aston Brook Street East, in Nechells, have been set aside for transit camps but no proposals for development have emerged.
There was also mention in a council report of a shared site on the Sandwell-Birmingham border, but Sandwell Council has rejected the proposal.
Mr Jamieson is now calling on local councils and the first elected mayor to get together later this year and provide official camps around the region.
He said: “Councils are having to spend a lot of money getting court orders and the huge clean up afterwards. What they should be doing is providing proper sites and charging rent for them, which many travellers are willing to pay.”
He said it would not only be more cost-effective but reduce the numbers of unauthorised camps in parks and school playing fields.
On Monday, more than 20 police officers were drafted in to Shenley Academy to evict around 60 adults and dozens of caravans.
The travellers finally moved on but reemerged in Kings Norton.They also abandoned a pony at the school, which was later rescued.
Mr Jamieson, said: “I recently held a summit, bringing the police and local councils from across the West Midlands around the table to respond to this ongoing issue.
“This disgraceful incident highlights why it is crucial for the summit’s recommendations to be acted upon as soon as possible.”