Travellers at Shrewsbury Abbey Foregate car park
Monday 10th October 2011, 11:22AM BST.
A group of travellers has moved on to a town centre car park in Shrewsbury.
About a dozen caravans were parked on the Abbey Foregate car park this morning, with the group believed to have moved on to the site over the weekend.
They have taken up the last third of the car park, which is located close to Shrewsbury Abbey and the Asda supermarket on Old Potts Way.
Many of the caravans had satellite dishes up this morning, while others had plastic chairs placed outside them.
UK News
Most Commented
- Clampdown on Shrewsbury chuggers
- Bishop's gay marriage views do nothing to support bible teachings
- Letter: Alcohol price plans annoy me
- Planners ordered to stay on Newport visit bus
- Letter: Angered by close encounter of the furred kind
- Letter: No sense in overseas job adverts
- The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff doesn't raise a smile
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
I imagine it’ll be an infringement of their human rights if the police attempt to move them on.
Report abuse
What Police?? They “will not have the resources” to shift them.
Report abuse
Well its a good job we’ve got human rights judging by these negative comments!.
Report abuse
Under what article?
Report abuse
They could stay in a five-star hotel for the price of the parking charges!
Report abuse
do you think they pay the charges?
Report abuse
Like in Basildon, local authorities spend millions of pounds evicting travellers and gypsies without providing any alternative places for them to go to.
Why don’t councils provide proper places for them to stay and save all the wasted money, and the aggro and racism that it fuels.
A square mile is all the land it would take to accommodate all of the UK’s gypsies and travellers – divide that by all the local authorities there are…..it ain’t much is it and would cost vitually nothing.
Report abuse
I think using the word “travellers” and a sentence such as “why don’t councils provide proper places for them to stay and save all the wasted money, and the aggro and the racism that it fules” proves that like most people, there is no understanding to the traveller community. If they want a proper place then they should begin to abide by uk tax laws if they want to remain travellers then they should move on asap after being ticketed for not paying their car parking fees. As for the last part and the square mile, i think that if you gave them an inch they would take a mile hence the trouble at dale farm
Report abuse
If they’re “travellers”, then they don’t need anywhere permanent, do they? If they’re not, then they’re obliged to live by the same rules as the rest of us.
Report abuse
According to reports in the national press, most of the so-called travellers at the Basildon site were actually quite wealthy citizens of the Irish republic who owned substantial property there. They certainly do have somewhere else to go – its called Ireland.
Their invasion of a pay-and display car park, presumably with no intention to pay the fees, is as illegal as if you or I parked our cars there under the same circumstances. They should have their cars / caravans impounded until they pay up.
Report abuse
Point of factual accuracy – see response to comment 11 below – they are from France, not Ireland…
Report abuse
Yes twiggo, Simple solution, just volunteer to have them by your house.
Report abuse
I don’t really understand the point you’re making.
My family lived near a gypsy site when I was a child – a couple of people from there used to come round for scrap metal and a chat with my Dad sometimes. And travellers used to stop off just up the road from us sometimes for a couple of days then move on again. Not a big deal.
Report abuse
So I guess you’ll be there after they’ve gone to help clean up all the nice mess they always leave behind, nice people!
Report abuse
Why don’t councils provide proper places for them to stay and save all the wasted money, and the aggro and racism that it fuels?
They have been in the past twiggo. NSDC spent a load of rate payers cash setting up a site for them at Higher Heath. In no time it was trashed, it looked like, well–a gypsy camp. Scrap, rubbish and filth everywhere.
They call themselves travellers, OK, let them travel, or rather, MAKE them travel, they chose the life, let them live with it.
Report abuse
so why should we provide land for french travelers exactly? or ANY for that matter. It’s not a race issue, it’s a trespassing issue. How about we all come live in/on your property and call ourselves squatters/travelers and the like. I’m sure you’d change your mind within 10 minutes.
Report abuse
They are getting ticketed I trust?
Or are the traffic wardens scared?
Move em on!
Report abuse
Bring in the CLAMPERS.
Report abuse
If you were the normal “Joe public” you car would be towed away in no time at all and given a hefty fine plus a fee for the retieval of your car.
But gypsies have a law unto themselves.
One law for them and another for us the law abiding tax payers.
don’t talk to me about fair justice in the UK
Report abuse
Hear hear!!!
Report abuse
It does say on the signs at that car park – ‘no over night camping’ so suely the council can deal with it? In the mean time are they paying the parking fees?
Report abuse
When you think of all the ancient historic remains under the Asda supermarket and the lorry park where the railways used to be it’s appalling isn’t it!
Whatever next?
Report abuse
Simple, put parking tickets on all vehicles without valid permits and keep doing it until they leave.
Report abuse
if the truckers were allowed to park there as in years gone by there would be no problem !!! , a few 40 tonners swinging around soon moves them on !!
Report abuse
Brian for the council leadership if you ask me… totally right – and this is the crazy council who stopped people from legally being able to park on the street with up to date tax discs when a concert was being held at the Shrewsbury Town football stadium…
Ticket them, clamp them and treat them like everyone else – otherwise I will be writing some stern letters or simply taking a caravan with me the next time I park in town.
Report abuse
They are the Irish governments responsibility they only come here because its illegal in Eire and we are stupid enough to put up with it
Report abuse
They are not Irish, they are French. It is likely that they are Romany Gypsies of Eastern European extraction. A very different thing to the Irish Travellers.
Report abuse
Does it really matter where they come from? They should not be there so the vehicles should be towed and if they don’t pay up then crush them.
Report abuse
The travellers should be welcomed to the county town. How can we ever hope to build a better society without celebrating diversity?
Report abuse
Harold, what a rediculous comment to make. They are breaking the laws and they should be handled appropriately, as any citizen should be whether foreign or local.
Report abuse
They are being “handled appropriately” – the Council has issued an eviction notice like they would for anyone else. What’s the big deal.
Do you get this hot under the collar when BMW drivers break speed limits or owners of poodles let them foul the pavements? Or when children drop sweet wrappers outside the local Spar? How many houses in Shrewsbury have been extended without planning permission? At least 5 on our street alone.
People break laws/regulations all the time – it’s only when it’s gypsies doing it that it generates such an almighty furore.
Report abuse
Harold we have missed your cracking lines love it.
Report abuse
perhaps they have come to replace all the dead wood at the council, but to only send twelve scandalous!!!
Report abuse
Good luck to them.
Report abuse
Yes, as long as they take all their rubbish and human waste with them eh?
Report abuse
Hope you’re going to invite some of them
round to camp on your garden.
Report abuse
A car park is not the same thing as my garden. You wouldn’t get caravans into a Wyle Cop garden!
Report abuse
Point of interest with permanent sites do they not pay council tax?? I rather thought they did?.
As for what they are doing in the car park then yes they should be ticketed as anyone else, and the fine followed up like it would be with anyone else , possibly some bailiffs are not as brave when it comes to certain people in our society.
Either way the government should provide over night caravan accommodation at a fee for travelers it should not be free.However why do they not book spots at the many caravan parks around the uk through the caravan club they are all the same.
Report abuse
I believe Council tax forms part of an official site pitch fee. When I worked in Edinburgh, there were two travellers sites operated by the Council. Some residents had been permanently on site for decades. I would not class these people as travellers. I would suggest a change in the law giving a maximum stay at any one site. Residents would therefore be genuine travellers and there would be some fairness in availability.
Report abuse
i suspect they are heading the queue of prospective students for the new darwin university, opening at the former wakeman school.
Report abuse
How depressing. I thought racism was no longer acceptable, but as soon as travellers are mentioned all pretence at tolerance and equality goes out the window to be replaced with a chorus of “Yuck, they’re different, chuck them out”. Whatever happened to “live and let live”?
Report abuse
It’s NOTHING to do with racism, what people don’t like is inequality under the law. When anyone gets away with breaking law (while the majority of us would be swiftly dealt with) people don’t like it because it isn’t fair! If a law is wrong – we should all be fighting to change it, if not we should all abide by it.
Report abuse
Well if it’s not racism, a lot of people are getting extremely het up about a few parked caravans and a bit of litter…. A few quotes from the posts above:
“…if you gave them an inch they would take a mile”
“They call themselves travellers, OK, let them travel, or rather, MAKE them travel, they chose the life, let them live with it”
“Move em on!”
“… they only come here because its illegal in Eire and we are stupid enough to put up with it”
These don’t seem like concern about parking tickets to me, more like dislike of people who are different- in other words, prejudice. Travellers are a tiny racial minority. Prejudice against them is therefore racism. I think people should be very careful not to label other groups as inferior, it leads to all kinds of trouble. 1930′s Germany anyone?
Report abuse
For goodness sake. How many times?
DONT MENTION THE WAR!
Report abuse
Ahem..I believe that you may have made a stereotypical assumption with regard to litter H :).
Report abuse
Good point well made helen. Squirrel, its autumn. Go gather some nuts. And Andy, a knowledge of history is a vital so that we don’t allow the atrocities of the past to recur. Intolerance is a disease!
Report abuse
Helen get off your high horse suggesting that the comments on here are racist. The issue that people have with ‘travellers’ is nothing to do with where they come from, what they look like or even how they choose to live their lives. The issue that people have (me included) is the fact that they expect to be treated differently by the LAW. They should be treated as the rest of the community – If I left my car in a paying car park for a substantial time it would get towed, FACT. If I built a house on green belt land without planning permission, I would be evicted and the house torn down, FACT. Live and let live is a lovely mantra that I believe in. The UK is one of the most tolerant countries in the world. BUT, you cannot extend this to blatant disregards for the Law and, if nothing else, common decency.
Report abuse
Tori, how do you know they expect to be treated “differently by the LAW? Have you spent time with before-mentioned travellers? Have you done some sort of attitudinal research covering members of the gypsy and travelling race? Where is your evidence base?
Whether you would call yourself a racist or not is up to you but what you are saying is racist. You wouldn’t say that all muslims are terrorists so don’t say that all gypsies are law breakers. Neither is true.
Report abuse
I’m not saying all travellers/gypsies are law breakers. However, from my knowledge, the council has already had to obtain eviction notices – they would not have to do that if they were not illegally parked. If they are all paying their fees then I and I’m sure most others would have no problem and indeed wish them all the best.
Report abuse
So you’d be happy enough for a caravan or two to park up on your front lawn, Helen?
No, thought not.
Report abuse
The travellers aren’t parking on people’s lawns, they are parking on Abbey Foregate carpark.
Report abuse
It’s a public car park – why is everyone getting so hot under the collar?
I wish people would get this bothered about all the dog poo around town. Oh…..of course….it must be those pesky gypsies parking up in the outskirts where we won’t notice them, sneeking into town in the dead of night and scattering it about for us all to tread in in the morning.
Report abuse
this must be the beginning of the queue of applicants for shrewsbury’s new university at the wakeman college. more colleges to follow
Report abuse
French travellers – how interesting. What a dull world we’d live in if we were all the same.
Report abuse
Yeah…and i’m a serbian warrior!
Report abuse
Why do travellers whip up such a load of histrionic clap-trap. A few travellers on a carpark for a few days with maybe some rubbish left behind and a couple of poos – big wow. Save your energies folks for something more important.
Report abuse
Are you volunteering to clen up the poos?
Report abuse
Like you Dave and your contradictory comment! How would you have used your energy instead of posting the comment?
Report abuse
“The travellers should be welcomed to the county town. How can we ever hope to build a better society without celebrating diversity?”
- Harold
Like anyone else, they could be welcomed to the County town provided they obey the laws of the land and the Council rules on parking, litter, etc.
Report abuse
In the photo the carpark looks neat and tidy to me.
Has anyone actually been down to Abbey Foregate and looked at what is going on down there? There are lots of assumptions being made – is it turning into a squalid cess-pit?
Maybe you should take it in turns to do site-visits and then report back.
Report abuse
if all the do-gooders like them that much have them in your garden or driveway.
Report abuse
I think i’ll park my car on Abbey Foregate car park this week…and not pay. Then if the Council issue a parking fine, i’ll pay up when the travellers do! Bit of a contradiction really…’travellers’!
Report abuse
I wouldnt do that if I were you tree-hugger…
the insurance wont pay out if you have “deliberately put your vehicle at risk”
Report abuse
I have read the comments with interest and can see that there are some rather polarised views when Gypsies and Travellers are mentioned. Ususally leaning more towards the negative. The question I have is why the Shropshire Star decided to publish this story in the first place knowing that it would stir up the small minded minority bashers?. Afterall its a story about a minor parking infringement and we don’t even know yet whether they paid for their parking.
Report abuse
On a “car park” which according to previous posts has a sign saying “no overnight parking”
If you were travelling France in a car/camper/caravan would you do the same – no because we fear on the spot fines and instant “justice”.
Oh and on the pooh comments earlier don’t the French use thos eawful holes in the ground rather than water closets.
oops hope that’s not a racist comment?
Report abuse
Well the next time I travel abroad and decide to park up my camper van in a layby I’ll be sure to check the local press regularly in case a pitchfork toting mob is mobilising itself for a forced eviction!.
Report abuse
If this was any other ethnic group………..
Report abuse
I wonder what the expensive ‘non job’ council Diversity officers would say about it all? ….
“How enriching”
“Let’s all celebrate the diversity that this all brings”
“We need to stamp out travellerphobia”
“Let’s start another awareness campaign”
Report abuse
Spoken like a true member of the Hitler Youth.
Report abuse
Oh dear jamie#1, with that rather hyperbolic Nazi comparison you’ve brought into play Godwin’s law. The future of this story’s comments thread now looks a little shaky…
Report abuse
Yes Victor we reached Godwins in only 28 posts. I thought that was rather good going. Lets see how the beer mat collection story fares.
Report abuse
Heart warming stuff.
Report abuse
Answer please why are these any different to the caravan club members who descend on Europe every year? ,I and many others are not aware if these guys have paid for parking why not direct them to oxon?.
Report abuse
“Like the Jews, the Rom Gypsies were chosen for total annihilation just because of their race. Even though Jews are defined by religion, Hitler saw the Jewish people as a race that he believed needed to be completely annihilated. The Rom Gypsies also were a nomadic people that were persecuted throughout history. Both groups were denied certain privileges in many European countries. The Nazis believed that both the Jews and Gypsies were racially inferior and degenerate and therefore worthless. Like the Jews, the Gypsies were also moved into special areas set up by the Nazis. Half a million Gypsies, almost the entire Eastern European Gypsy population, was wiped out during the Holocaust.”
Report abuse
helen
How depressing. I thought racism was no longer acceptable, but as soon as travellers are mentioned all pretence at tolerance and equality goes out the window to be replaced with a chorus of “Yuck, they’re different, chuck them out”. Whatever happened to “live and let live”?
I remember the last visit from travellers.Im not saying they are all the same but there seems to be a pattern.They cut the chain on radbrook road green.distressed all the resident.left piles of rubbish and trashed the junior football pitch which could not be used again that season.Who payed for the clean up?You all did with your council tax.
Report abuse
groundsman-
You said it yourself “I’m not saying they are all the same…”. Sometimes, people making their way back from the pub down our street on a Saturday night are antisocial and make a racket. Other times, they are fine. People vary. And from the look of things, these particular French travellers haven’t been to Shrewsbury before. So why judge them?
Report abuse
Revellers often urinate in my gated town centre passage at the weekend. I suspect that if I abused them in French they wouldn’t understand! It all looked tidy when I passed the car park on Saturday. There are bins and public loos there and in Asda. I can’t bear this prejudice.
Report abuse
Who is to say these people have not paid and displayed ?
Report abuse
Have they gone yet?. Just wondering if we’re still countering the right wing NIMBY’s. I hope they enjoyed Shrewsbury and were oblivious to the scorn that was being directed at them.
Report abuse
As of Saturday lunchtime they’re gone, and not a poo in sight.
Some of the settled travellers send their kids to my kids’ school. They are no problem. Their mums drive huge black 4×4 pick-ups but are no different to any of the others, once you get talking to them.
Report abuse
What about the cost of clearing up the place afterwards.
Who should we send the bill to? – Helen?
Report abuse
You have to laugh at some of the angry daily mail type reader comments on this issue. These people really do need to seek out help for the rather warped angry mental health issues ranging from low self esteem to anger management issues i think they may have these .
I do not know this as fact its an assumption as assumptions seem to be made by most antis on here.Infact i wonder if the neighbors they have , have an opinion on them ? one i know has.
Report abuse
Nice to see the local people happy to have the next dale farm in shtewsbury! Well done and good luck1
Report abuse
Nice to see all the local people who wouldn’t mind the next dale farm in shrewsbury! Well done and good luck!
Report abuse
where do you expect the travelers to park? On the side of a hill? A car park being a hard standing is an ideal surface. They don’t stay for long. same old story not in my back yard. if you were to ask in a pleasant respectful manner the travelers would remove their rubbish. everyone has been complaining about car parking fees anyway. Travelers could teach us about family morals values and loyalty.
Report abuse
Ha ha i’ll have to let you know when they are back by my work and you can ask them!
Report abuse