Bradley Stoke Town Council has confirmed that it has installed a number of wooden posts in an attempt to to prevent further access to a site alongside Bradley Way, where a group of travellers recently established an unauthorised encampment.
The travellers left the site last Thursday (26th June) and the town council says it has “wasted no time” in taking action, with the work being carried out by its own contractors on Saturday (28th June).
Whilst at the site on Saturday, Cllr John Ashe (Mayor of Bradley Stoke) said:
“When the travellers vacated the land on Thursday evening, there was an urgent need to block this slipway to prevent another incursion. Unfortunately, I was unable to get South Gloucestershire Council to commit to immediate remedial work which was disappointing after all the discussions and meetings that had taken place.”
“I, in conjunction with the chairs of the town council’s committees, decided that action rather than talk was needed and instructed Bradley Stoke Town Council’s contractor Ambience Landscapes to seal it off. Obviously they could not get huge boulders, but decided on posts concreted into the ground. This they have done this morning and I will be asking South Gloucestershire Council to cover our costs as this is their land and their responsibility. Many thanks to Ambience for their fast and efficient response.”
Confirming that the work had been completed, a town council spokesperson explained that officers did consider the use of boulders but these could not be sourced by the contractor and would likely cost “considerable sums of money” to source elsewhere. The spokesperson added that the four wooden posts installed cost significantly less [than boulders] and will not adversely impact visually on the area.
The total cost for the installation has not yet been determined, but councillors will be liaising with South Gloucestershire Council in an effort to recoup the town council’s costs.
The council says it hopes the posts will prevent the return of caravans to the site, whilst still allowing access for grass cutting and maintenance.
If he just took all the “overflow” from the dog crap bins and put it there even the travellers wouldn’t want to camp there!
Well done BS Council but shame about preventative measures. I don’t think they are a substantative deterent… I hope long term there will be something better. We can now all get on with our lives.
We have the same issues in Aberdeen unfortunately. These people think they have the right to camp wherever they want to, leaving behind piles of building rubble, garden waste, guttering, human waste and even a dead puppy thrown on a pile of rubbish, in one encampment. Good luck with your measures, but if we tried using wooden poles up here, they saw them down and use them as firewood in one of their illegal fires. This travelling scourge have absolutely no shame and think that everything should be handed to them on a silver platter. We need more laws.
Good to see that someone takes the initiative and gets something done rather than the usual Council procedure of endless committee meetings.
As previously posted (pardon the pun) wooden posts will surely get sawn off if they are serious about returning. I was unsure about the comment that “Obviously they could not get huge boulders…”, why is it obvious? Are they that hard to source with all the quarrying we have going on in our country?
I’m glad they have decided to take action, but those wooden posts are quite frankly pathetic. That’s like trying to block the m5 with a matchstick…
Do you not think that putting massive boulders there at a considerable cost might just end up being money poorly spent?
Who is to say that there will be any other incidents of illegal trespass there? As and when the posts are cut down and burnt, I’ll accept the whinging was valid.
Until that happens, all it looks like to me is that some people just like to moan for the sake of moaning.
The Mayor is an idiot if he thinks a few posts will prevent determined travellers from occupying this site again. The ramp needs to be ditched to prevent any further incusion.
I know that the local councillors are trying to put something up which will stop these people from returning with their vans but come on it needs to be something better than a few wooden posts what is wrong with people don’t they have any other ideas than this
Give the Mayor a break. If he spent a load of money on boulders people would just complain he’d spent too much money. They’d have to be pretty large to stop someone with a builders truck and decent towing equipment which most groups of travelers have. Considering the scale of the problem (first time offence of a few travelers) the posts seem an appropriate response.
Well done Mr Mayor for taking the initiative on this. Actions speak louder than words and you will have my vote next year.
I think we’ve got our own Action Boris in Bradley Stoke!