Travellers Moved On
HUGH SULLIVAN reports on what police call a ‘proportionate response’ to travellers in St Leonards, while the Council fails to progress a search for legal sites
On Monday 22 July a convoy of Travellers arrived in West St Leonards, parking around 30 vehicles in an unauthorised encampment on the kempt lawns of Grosvenor Gardens. Two days later they attempted to move a few hundred yards west to the rougher terrain of the Old Bathing Pool site (OBP), where a similar group had set up for two weeks in June/July last year, somehow bypassing a bollard at the south-east corner designed to prevent entry.
Previous brushes with police
Last summer, police and councils were criticised for slow responses, while local residents complained of shoplifting and anti-social behaviour on the part of the visitors. This year, Sussex Police took much speedier action. Acting on what they described as “numerous reports of anti-social behaviour, theft and damage”, they issued notices under Section 61 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act to members of the convoy as they drove into the OBP. Such notices empower the police to remove trespassers and their vehicles from any land without a court order. Failure to comply, or return to the identified location within three months, carries criminal sanctions.
The Travellers then moved further west to Freshfields at the top of Bulverhythe playing fields, allegedly forcing locks and damaging planters placed there by the Friends of Combe Valley. Sussex Police then served a fresh Section 61 notice, and by the following day (Thursday 25 July) all vehicles had departed.
Inspector Lauren Buck commented: “We would like to thank the public for their patience while this incident was ongoing. Police instigated an efficient and proportionate response to ensure the safety and security of local residents whilst taking into consideration the rights of the group members involved.”
Under the national Planning Policy for Traveller Sites issued by the Government in 2015, local councils are required to “assess the accommodation needs” of gypsies and travellers within their area, set pitch targets “which address permanent need”, and identify a supply of “deliverable” sites. This requirement is essentially on a par with a council’s responsibility to meet accommodation needs of all people living in their area, though the definition of the group – partly ethnic, partly social/cultural – is fraught with legal difficulty.
In 2021-22 an Accommodation Needs Assessment delivered by consultants appointed by joint local authorities across East Sussex concluded that Hastings would need 12 new permanent residential pitches (each suitable for a mobile home and touring caravan plus parking space and an amenity block) over the next 15 years to meet local demand. Following this, Hastings Borough Council issued a call last autumn for landowners to submit potential sites, wholly or at least in part within the borough. The closing date for submission was in January this year, but the council has not published any outcome – nor has it offered any comment on the recent unauthorised encampments on its own land.
Overall, the Assessment concluded East Sussex required more than two hundred more pitches. The county council currently provides just four permanent sites with provision for 33 families.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. You can also support local journalism by becoming a friend of HIP. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful.
Leave a Reply