REVEALED: £47K cost of travellers
Councils foot the bill for clean-ups, court fees and security as calls grow for greater deterrents
COUNCIL tax payers have forked out £47,000 to deal with illegal traveller encampments this summer, The News can reveal.
That is the sum spent on clean-ups, security measures and court fees since May after a slew of traveller encampments were set up in public spaces.
Amid calls for greater deterrents to prevent the annual camps, pressure is growing on MPs to make trespassing a criminal offence.
TRAVELLER encampments have cost councils across south Hampshire almost £47,000 this summer – with calls for more deterrents and for MPs to make trespassing a criminal offence.
Local authorities in The News’ area revealed how much they have spent on clean ups, security measures and court fees since May this year after a slew of traveller encampments were set up in public spaces.
Portsmouth City Council was hit hardest, spending a total of almost £40,000, with the expectation that more preventative measures will be put in place to deter future camps. The council confirmed it spent just over £13,000 since May this year to cover costs incurred by the encampments, including court fees, security and site clean ups.
On top of this, an extra £24,600 was invested in security and preventative measures to deter future encampments – such as large boulders that were placed around Southsea Common in July.
Leader, Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, said: ‘These measures are absolutely essential. It’s right we do all we can to stop the encampments.
‘The problem we have got is often people will find a way to get round them. We used to have wooden bollards but people came with chainsaws.
‘When we’ve put rocks down, people are ready to tow them away – which was why we needed larger ones. Unless we catch people in the act of doing it, we can’t say who’s done it.
He said earth bunds might be a solution and added: ‘It’s right we should protect these spaces.
‘Every year we spend a lot on illegal encampments.’
Since May, Portsmouth council attended six unauthorised encampments to conduct welfare assessments and site reports. This includes near Port Solent and on Southsea Common.
Of these, two resulted in a court order being obtained, police action was taken in two cases, and two groups left voluntarily having been served a section 77 notice.
However, Tory group leader Cllr Donna Jones said: ‘Illegal encampments cost the taxpayer money. We have seen a spike in the number of illegal encampments in the city over the last 18 months. This isn’t good enough. More needs to be done.’
In Fareham, the council was made aware of one encampment during that time – in Wicor Rec. The camp was removed by police, but it still cost the council £3,300 to clean up the site.
Leader of Fareham Borough Council, Cllr Sean Woodward, said: ‘What is needed is for the government to make trespassing a criminal offence. If that was done as soon as they arrived, regardless of how they arrived, the police could remove them.’
Four major illegal encampments were set up in Havant this summer at a cost of £6,000 to the council.
Hampshire County Council told The News there had been 19 encampments on its land since May, however no court action was taken. No information was available on the cost to the council.
Gosport Borough Council was approached for information on recent encampments.
Travellers setting up camps on Southsea Common is not a rare sight anymore. When they arrived this summer, many people in Portsmouth were not happy to see them. Andas The News reveals that illegal encampments have cost the councils in south Hampshire £47,000 this summer alone, such negative feeling towards travellers is bound to get worse.
The astonishing figure – of which Portsmouth City Council paid the bulk – was the total cost spent on clean ups, security measures and court fees since May this year after a slew of traveller encampments were set up in public spaces.
On top of this an extra £24,600 was invested in security and preventative measures to deter future encampments – such as large boulders that were placed around Southsea Common in July.
As many News readers stated in online comments and letters inour Community Views pages, they felt large boulders didn’t go far enough in deterring travellers from camping on the common.
However Portsmouth City Council leader, councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson said: ‘These measures are absolutely essential. It’s right we do all we can to stop the encampments.
‘The problem we have got is often people will find a way to get round them. We used to have wooden bollards but people came with chainsaws. When we’ve put rocks down people are ready to tow them away – which was why we needed larger ones. Unless we catch people in the act of doing it can’t say who’s done it.
‘Every year we spend a lot on illegal encampments.’
But many, including Tory group leader Cllr Donna Jones, believes, more needs to be done.
She said: ‘Illegal encampments cost the taxpayer money.
‘We have seen a spike in the number of illegal encampments in the city over the last 18 months. This isn’t good enough. More needs to be done.’