Council takes steps to keep travellers off Solihull's parks

STEPS have been taken to make it more difficult for travellers to set up camp in Solihull's parks and open spaces, a councillor has said.

Councillor Tony Dicicco, the cabinet member for stronger communities and partnerships, said that he was "very satisfied" with the local authority's efforts to make it harder for caravans to move onto land.

The recent work at 25 sites - including several in the north of the borough - has seen steel fencing, bollards, timber barriers and ditch and mound earthworks created, ahead of the months of the year when councils tend to see an increase in the number of unauthorised encampments. 

Coun Dicicco said the defences, which have been put in place as part of a three year plan, would make access more difficult for travellers, although he argued it was important to stop short of turning sites into "fortresses" which members of the public would be reluctant to visit.

"There's that balance there which we need to try to maintain," he told this month's Full Council meeting.

"But it's of course impossible to make all our open spaces totally incursion proof and we'll never do that. There is always a risk, as we saw at Babbs Mill recently."

Aside from efforts to 'target harden' local sites, the council recently took out a High Court injunction against a group of named individuals to attempt to tackle the problem.

In addition, the local authority has, in recent weeks, promoted a consultation - being run at national level - in which the Government is asking for the public's opinion of the current powers available to remove unauthorised camps.

Coun John Windmill, leader of the Lib Dem group, said: "Central government is only now going out to consultation at a time when we are expecting a new surge of travellers coming into our midst, with the problems that are likely to arise.

"[Does the cabinet member] have any information why it has taken the Government six months after the 'muddy season' started in September/October...to realise they have a problem?"

Coun Dicicco said he was not able to comment on the policy nationally, but added that he was pleased by the efforts taken locally to ensure Solihull had "a fairly quiet summer" and did not experience the difficulties that it has done in previous years.