Council wants to ban travellers’ camps
A COUNCIL has applied for a High Court injunction banning travellers from setting up illegal camps across an entire borough.
Town hall chiefs in Rochdale say the unusual move is required because their existing powers are ‘being undermined and are ineffective’.
If approved, anyone found breaching the injunction could be locked up, fined or have their assets seized.
Rochdale is the first council in Greater Manchester to attempt to take such action. Over the last three years, 132 unauthorised camps have been set up in the borough.
In its application, which names 89 travellers who have previously been moved on from camps in Rochdale, the council says it has ‘experienced significant and prolonged issues associated with the unauthorised encampments, including fly-tipping, anti-social behaviour and threats of violence to members of the local community’.
Local youngsters have been ‘intimidated’ by traveller children and camps are also having a ‘detrimental impact’ on businesses, the application states.
“The council has experienced significant expense in both legal costs and clean-up costs,” it adds.
But Sarah Mann, co-director of Friends, Family and Travellers, a charity which represents the travelling community, described the move as ‘shocking’.
She said: “What if the next town along did something similar, and the next and the next? Where are the travellers supposed to go? In the sea? I am not sure they would be treating any other community like this.”