Travellers ‘can’t stand sound of gunshots’
TRAVELLERS camped illegally in a historic market town should not be moved near a rifle range because the sound of gunfire will bring back “bad memories” of being shot at, councillors have argued.
The family, which set up camp in a high street car park, was told by town hall chiefs that a site next to a gun club’s headquarters was available.
But some councillors said that after facing years of hate and violence, being exposed to the sound of gunfire could traumatise the travellers.
The large family put its vehicles in a car park in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, near the picturesque village of Matlock Bath, six weeks ago.
They claimed their vehicles had been shot at in another village in 2013.
But the gun club says councillors’ suggestions that the travellers would be at risk makes its members look like trigger-happy “cowboys”.
Derbyshire Dales District Council eventually voted to move the family to the temporary site, an overspill car park at Matlock Bath station, next to the 118-year-old gun club.
Earlier this week, council chief executive Paul Wilson said the family taking up car parking spaces was having an “economic effect” on the town.
Council officers also reported “issues with ground conditions and confrontations with residents”.
However opposition members on the Conservative-run authority, along with one Tory, disapproved of the site’s closeness to Matlock and District Rifle Club.
Conservative Vicky Massey-Bloodworth said: “I understand we have to put them somewhere, but there is putting a family that has faced hate and been shot at next to a shooting range.
“We have a duty of care to help them and this is not the way to do it.” Labour councillor Irene Ratcliffe said: “I know we are desperate, but there is nothing worse for them than trying to sleep at night feeling scared.”
Angry rifle club official Len Webster said: “We have been running this club for over 100 years, we are registered with the Home Office and the police. We have very strict rules – if we did anything wrong we would lose our licence.
“They probably think we are just a load of cowboys running around shooting at anything and everything.
“Personally, I don’t think the land is suitable, but it’s got nothing to do with its proximity to the club.”
The council has no power to force the travellers to relocate to the site, but has warned them that if they remain in Ashbourne or move on to another site illegally, it will begin court proceedings.
A council spokesman said the authority was looking for land where it could create six permanent pitches.