Travellers on Shropshire beauty spot
Tuesday 24th May 2011, 11:45AM BST.
Travellers have set up camp on a north Shropshire beauty spot after getting in through gates which had been vandalised, it was claimed today.
More than 40 caravans arrived at Prees Heath Common near Whitchurch on Sunday, which is owned by Butterfly Conservation.
Councillors today called for action to be taken to remove them.
At Shrewsbury Magistrates’ Court yesterday Antony Barnett, 71, of The Grove, Hodnet, was found guilty of causing criminal damage at the site on August 9 last year and ordered to pay £4,500 compensation.
The court heard a digger was driven on to the nature reserve and used to tear down the gates.
Stephen Lewis, reserve warden and member of the Butterfly Conversation, said: “On Sunday lunchtime at least 40 caravans gained illegal access on to Prees Heath Common Reserve, at the point where one of the kissing gates damaged was located.
“They are still there and Butterfly Conservation is discussing with the police the best way to resolve the situation.”
He said the reasons the conservationists installed the gates was to stop illegal access to it.
“The gates will now be put back in place,” he said.
Gerald Dakin, Shropshire Council member for Whitchurch South, said: “If it’s the case that the gipsies gained access because of an act of vandalism some time ago then that is terrible.
“Butterfly Conservation has been working so hard down there to get the heath back to its natural state.”
Richard Ewels, spokesman for West Mercia Police, said they were monitoring the situation.
“It is down to the private land owner to take necessary steps to remove them.”
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I hope the digger was subject to a confiscation order?
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Don’t be silly it’s against his yuman rites
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They should barricade them in – until they all agree to leave together – caravans first, unmarked tipper trucks last.
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They should leave, and hand in an up to date tax return.
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Better tell them @ Haughmand hill as I was up there friday and the gate had been ‘axed’!!!
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Why dont the police go on and arrest them for trespass and breaking and entering. They would normally.
But they’re probably too busy harassing innocent people.
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They can’t because they didn’t have to break in due to the vandalised entry, if this had been repaired after the vandalism they would have had to break in and could have been arrested, you see, trespass is a civil offence whereby you have to obtain an eviction notice to get rid which all in all takes about a month and a lot of incovenience not to mention your money. If they have to break down a barrier to enter land they have committed a a criminal offence for which they can be arrested.
And the travellers aren’t daft, they register all their vehicles in Southern Ireland so they can’t be impounded.
Been there and done that where I work, we’ve even had to race to shut the entry gates onto site in the middle of the day when they made for us after being turfed off across the road else we’d have been stuck with them for a month!
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Harassing innocent people? What tosh you talk Martin! Go and have a cup of tea!!
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3 Rob
How many sites are there for travellers in Shropshire?
Focus on our Councillors that have mismanaged the planned arrangements for travellers.
This ongoning problem will only be resolved through discussion and agreement.
Violence and threats only breeds more violence and threats.
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“How many sites are there for travellers in Shropshire?”
I don’t know and to be honest I don’t care, all I can say is that wherever they go they leave a trail of filth and crime.
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I can vouch for the disgusting mess they leave behind!! My poor old Dad is a volunteer for Butterfly Conservation and was involved in the “clean up” from their latest visit!! i.e. good soles like my Dad do the clean up for free and trust me, these people don’t just leave empty bottles and litter, the comment on the silo below is more like it, they seem to like spreading it around!!!
““How many sites are there for travellers in Shropshire?”
I don’t know and to be honest I don’t care, all I can say is that wherever they go they leave a trail of filth and crime.”
These people DO NOT deserve anything until the can prove that they can live like humans, they already cost the taxpayer ££££££££s.
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A tale I once heard of a farmer in North Wales who found a scattering of caravans on his fields one morning.
Asked them, politely, to leave but no.
Came back with a silo trailer full of hen manure. Sprayed the gateway and surrounding area.
All gone, apart from the smell, next morning.
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Maybe gates should have been reinstated before travellers gained access to land!! Stable door, horse, bolted springs to mind!!
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But WHO was it that vandalised it in the first place???
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From the main story:
“At Shrewsbury Magistrates’ Court yesterday Antony Barnett, 71, of The Grove, Hodnet, was found guilty of causing criminal damage at the site on August 9 last year and ordered to pay £4,500 compensation.”
So it wasn’t a traveller who damaged the gate. Looks like they just took their opportunity when they saw it as i assume the Buterfly Conservation trust hadn’t got round to fixing it or couldnt afford to. No doubt it will now cost them a hell of a lot more to clean the place up (and that’s not me being Travellerist just a point of fact from every piece of land i’ve seen them leave).
Having said that i do agree that it’s better to try and look for a solution for the traveller problem rather than just paying to clean up after them but do the ones who go from site to site actually want a permanent one?
Read more: http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2011/05/24/travellers-on-shropshire-beauty-spot/#ixzz1NNQ9wSEQ
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‘It’s up to the landowner to take necessary steps to remove them?’ So let’s get this right; someone comes on your land – TO LIVE – and the law can’t do anything about it? Just take some time to think about that… What sort of sense does that make? Please someone tell me – as it makes no sense whatsoever to me.
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As someone else already pointed out above, the law can do something about it. But it is civil law, not criminal law, which is why the police do not get involved. The landowner has to go through the civil courts to get them evicted.
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