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BCP Council's pre-emptive injunctions plan for illegal camps

BBC Travellers in Poole Park in June 2020BBC
About 50 unauthorised encampments are reported in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area each year

Pre-emptive injunctions could be taken out at sites in parts of Dorset where unauthorised traveller encampments have previously been set up.

The move is one of a number of options being considered by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council.

About 50 unauthorised encampments are reported in the area each year, costing the council about £100,000.

BCP and Dorset Councils have already said no new pitches would be created in the county until at least 2022.

'Anti-social behaviour'

BCP Council's cross-party member working group has recommended its cabinet "explore[s] the feasibility" of using pre-emptive injunctions, in places with a "demonstrable history" of unauthorised Gypsy and traveller encampments.

"This has set legal precedence, in which other councils have subsequently successfully obtained pre-emptive injunctions, although on sites with a known history of anti-social behaviour," a report said.

"It must be noted that these councils had to provide evidence to the court that they could demonstrate they were actively working towards the provision of alternative stopping places and that a thorough and meaningful equality impact assessment had been undertaken."

It is estimated the measures would cost the authority cost about £125,000.

Travellers in Poole
Unauthorised encampments cost BCP Council about £100,000 each year

The group has also recommended the council continues to provide skips and toilets where necessary, with security made available in "exceptional circumstances", and looks into the potential for alternative "stopping places".

It has also suggested only "limited" target hardening - physical measures to prevent access to a site - be carried out "as local circumstances dictate", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The review into unauthorised camps was called as part of efforts to create a consolidated approach to deal with the issue after three authorities were merged last year to create BCP Council.

The report also suggested that £50,000 would need to be spent next year to fund a new member of staff to manage the issue.

The working group's recommendations will be considered by the council's cabinet on 30 September.

Line-break

Timeline of Dorset's Gypsy and traveller sites consultation:

  • 2011: The first consultation on possible new Gypsy and traveller sites across the county is held
  • 2012: The government agrees a national need for 6,000 new pitches
  • 2015: About 80% of respondents to a Gypsy and traveller site consultation in Dorset raise objections, including concerns over flooding
  • 2016: A BBC Freedom of Information (FOI) request finds local authorities have created just 1,800 new pitches since 2012, including 25 in Dorset - all in Piddlehinton and only available during the spring and summer months - with a projected need for 132 more
  • 2020: BCP and Dorset Council Councils confirm no new Gypsy and traveller pitches will be created in Dorset until at least 2022, due to the county's former nine councils merging into two and as a result of the coronavirus pandemic