Travellers invading local park.

As others have said, not all travellers are trouble. A family parks up near our village every year for on week in July. They keep the area they're in very clean. When they leave the only evidence that they were there are a few black bin backs tied and neatly stacked awaiting collection by the dustmen.

It’s the lawlessness that pi….me off. If any of us behaved like they do we’d be in serious trouble yet the police around here completely turn a blind eye.
As for the disgusting mess we’re expected to put up with and pay to be cleared ?

If travellers set up camp where I live they are normally gone within 24hrs luckily. Letters are immediately posted on lampposts and fencing evicting them? The last travellers we had on our industrial estate arrived during Covid and left after a few days - they put all their general rubbish in bin liners which I’ve never seen happen before usually leave piles of stuff.

Mollygo

The caravanners who were moved on from attempting to set up their group in the local supermarket carpark and who broke down the gate to park on a local playing field were friendly enough, but the detritus they left behind was sickening.

This is what posters are upset about, the mess, the money it costs to clean up after them, plus other misdemours.

The caravanners who were moved on from attempting to set up their group in the local supermarket carpark and who broke down the gate to park on a local playing field were friendly enough, but the detritus they left behind was sickening.

Iam64

I’m with other posters, criminal behaviour should be prosecuted

So am I, and I think discriminating against travelar children is wrong.

I’m with other posters, criminal behaviour should be prosecuted

Marsha - is it ever ok to discriminate against any group based on the actions of some?
I’m taking about children being threatened and called abusive names linked to their ethnic origin.
I’m not defending the kind of behaviour described by other posters. I’ve met violent criminals from the gypsy community as I have from the many varied communities in our country
I’ve met many more law abiding, friendly peopke in thst community. There caravans/prefabs/houses immaculate. Family central. I found pride, understanding and sadness thst there traditional way of life is now impossible

Whoever they are this is criminal behaviour. They're breaking umpteen laws.

I would never defend racism, but I honestly believe with travelers it is prejudice and not racism.
I dont think posters are saying all travellers are the same and I dont think they have been racist, I think they are angry with what has happened in their communities and the mess left behind.
I think people get angry as it has had an effect on their lives.

Iam64

How do you work thst out rafichagran? There’s the law which applies to all of us

I’m in no way defending the. lawless abusive behaviour some in the travelling community enjoy
I know many Irish and Romany gypsies who have experienced terrible abuse, racism from people simply because of their race and ethnic background. Children subjected to racism can’t be defended

But is the abuse levelled at them because of the (poor) actions of some of their community, rather than their ethnicity? Perhaps some Spanish people, say, think that all young English men are “louts” because of the behaviour of some English lads on holiday there?

How do you work thst out rafichagran? There’s the law which applies to all of us

I’m in no way defending the. lawless abusive behaviour some in the travelling community enjoy
I know many Irish and Romany gypsies who have experienced terrible abuse, racism from people simply because of their race and ethnic background. Children subjected to racism can’t be defended

Roma and Irish travellers are not even the same ethnic origin so how would you know you share one with either rafichagran?

Jaxjacky

Happened near us last week, the children’s public paddling pool had to be closed, emptied and refilled, people were washing and defecating in it.
Section 61 invoked by council/police to move them, now they’re a few miles away to make more mess.

I think you must live nearby as they came to us next - used an angle grinder to break in a public park - over 50 caravans and took 3 days for police to invoke section 61!! In the meantime they shat in the woods and park, went round helping themselves to water to fill up their water containers (without asking), raided the local shops so they ended up closing completely and were generally disruptive and foul mouthed.

We had a general clean up operation of rubbish today and the council will be doing an environmental clean up of human poo etc on Monday. Thank god they’ve moved on! Q

It’s the total mess they leave behind and the disregard they have for the community that I hate. Nobody feels safe - they were near a school and one mum, taking her kids to school via a shortcut, came across a man in his underpants who had just defecated!

Apparently they don’t like using their own toilets in their trailers/caravans as they consider it dirty and not the done thing. It wouldn’t be so bad if they took a spade and buried it in the ground rather then leave their excrement and wet wipes everywhere! Makes me so cross ?

I am 64, it is not racism if someone is of the same ethnic origin as you. If something happens and it is between a say for example a West Indian and African due to where they come from it is prejudice or discrimination it is not racist as they are the same ethnic origin.

I was just coming to say you are right Iam64 but you have already posted the relevant information.

From Citizens Advice :
Gypsies and Travellers - race discrimination.
The equalities act 2010 says yiu mustn’t be discriminated against because of yiur race. If you’re a Gypsy or a Traveller yiu may be protected against race discrimination, it’s race discrimination is you’re treated unfairly because of one of the following things
;
Colour
Nationality
Ethnic origin
National origin

Some gypsies and travellers are protected against discrimination on the basis of their ethnic origin Romany gypsies and Irish Travellrrs are protected because they’re ethnic groups under the Equality ACT

It’s not to do with whether they’re white

Iam64

Its racist, unfair and incorrect to say all the gypsy travelling community are lawless. Like every other community, there are good and bad. Saying this isn’t based on not recognising the lawless way some behave, it’s based on working closely in several travelling communities.

Not racist, all the travellers I have come across are white, people are not against their skin colour, it could be prejudice, and some maybe ok, but the posters are talking about the people who illegally camp on public spaces and peoples land and leave a disgusting mess. Silly to say posters are being racist.

A few years ago they broke through the gates of the school playing field behind our block of flats. Literally behind our private car park.
It was without doubt one of the worst few days of my life. We didn't open our blinds for the whole time they were there.
The noise, the rubbish, the bikes at all times of the day and night.
Local shop keepers had lots of things stolen, mainly by young children.
It took three days to get a court order to remove them and then the big clear up began.
Our local council has now put bollards up and grass verges to deter them from moving onto local green land.
I'm afraid I don't have a good thing to say about any of them.

We have them in our local parks too OP, in fact a couple of our corner shops had to shut for a few days due to previous episodes of shoplifting - it was cheaper than being robbed.

They even go to school playing fields and the university park, breaking the preventive barriers, pleading ignorance. Lately they seem to be moved on more quickly.

It's a bit like football hooliganism of the 70s - clubs denying responsibility - but if they attach themselves to your community it is your responsibility isn't it? They say it's just a few of them, but if they leave rubbish, tatty old sofas (which is the least of it), have feral children and threatening dogs, then how can they expect us to welcome them?

The law needs to be changed to help the law-abiding majority (as I believe it was in Ireland - which is why they've come here) so that we can nip this problem in the bud.

They smashed through a padlocked gate to playing fields a few miles from here, within days it was covered in rubbish, used nappies, faeces and toilet paper. Kids were driving transit vans around, racing each other.
I bet if any of us did that we’d be rightfully prosecuted and fined - the police did nothing.
As soon as they were moved on, the newly replaced gates were again driven through and there’s an even bigger group there. They’ve uprooted/sawn down trees and chopped them up for bonfires, the playing fields are wrecked.
Many people used to access them for sports a dog walking, no more.
Just who the hell do these people think they are?

We don't tend to hear about these 'good' travellers. The other ones are a blight on the communities they foist themselves on to. I feel very sorry for the people who live in fear of them and have to cough up to pay for clearing the mess they leave behind.

Its racist, unfair and incorrect to say all the gypsy travelling community are lawless. Like every other community, there are good and bad. Saying this isn’t based on not recognising the lawless way some behave, it’s based on working closely in several travelling communities.

I find it annoying as well. Why should our money go to cleaning these places up? The police are scared stiff of them and they run lawless around this country. I am sick of hearing about the do gooders standing up for them. Also stop all of these programmes about them because it just glorifies them.

No doubt some are fine but my direct experience says otherwise. The common in front of our house was occupied by travellers for about six weeks until the Council managed to get a court order and they moved on but they left a massive amount of old tarmac, junk, rubbish, etc., behind for local services to clear up. And their kids stole from our gardens and were seen driving cars on the common.

Too many well-meaning do gooders defend them without ever experiencing the havoc they cause.