Welfare checks carried out at Traveller encampment in Palm Bay

Temporary provision is planned by Thanet council

Thanet council says welfare checks have been carried out for a group of Travellers who arrived at Palm Bay green on Tuesday (July 28) night.

Around six caravans have been parked at the recreational area. A visit by council officers and police was carried out yesterday.

A council spokesperson said: “We are aware of an unauthorised encampment in Palm Bay. The council’s Community Safety Team visited the group with police on Wednesday (29 July) to carry out welfare checks.

“The Government has set out guidance which states that local authorities should not evict encampments during the pandemic. This has been extended until the end of August 2020.

“Together with the police, the Council’s Community Safety team will continue to monitor the encampment regularly.”

Government guidelines are that to minimise risk during the national coronavirus emergency, unauthorised encampments should not be evicted. Local authorities are encouraged to adopt a negotiated stopping approach for unauthorised encampments instead.

The Friends, Families and Travellers organisation says that in light of the known health inequalities within Gypsy and Traveller communities local authorities should take action that is based on the level of risk experienced by these groups.

Provision

Thanet council doesn’t currently have Gypsy and Traveller provision. However, this has come under scrutiny following a huge rise in incursions from just two in 2013 to more than 50 last year.

Proposals for temporary Traveller sites in Thanet will be discussed by council Cabinet members tonight (July 30).

In December approval was given for further work to assess Potten Street in St Nicholas-at-Wade, Tivoli Brook in Margate and Ramsgate Port for use as temporary tolerated stopping sites.

Both Ramsgate Port and Tivoli Brook have been removed from the plans. Councillors will now consider the sites for Potten Street and a new addition of agricultural land off Shottendane Road in Margate.

The aim is to use the sites on a rotation basis to alleviate the issue of unauthorised camps on the isle.

‘Tolerated’ pitches’

A need for 7 permanent and 5 transit vehicle pitches in Thanet was previously identified in a study for Thanet council. Temporary tolerated pitches are when unauthorised encampments stay for an agreed amount of time.

The council says this means smoother enforcement is easier on those unauthorised encampments which choose to ignore the direction and stay on other land.

A temporary tolerated site also allows easier management of amenities such as waste collection and toilet provision, reducing the impact on the local area.

The next steps will be for TDC to create a project plan for bringing the sites forward for use including full costs, timescales, resident engagement and site operational plans.

33 Comments

    • Did you read the article? They are permitted to remain there via governement guidelines.

      You know, the sort of guidelines you follow when you weqr your mask everywhere you go.

      On another note…would you be driving the JCB…probably not, right?

  1. Welfare checks are a usual legal exercise.They are visitors in a cluster.
    To protect the locals. As any visitor to a hotel,b&b,camp site,restaurant,pub and a few more places have to leave verifiable contact details.
    Thanet council have the power toprotect the local (permanent) population.
    Also Tdc (due to the travellers past history of dumping trash) could impose a cash bond of above £1K per vehicle so a car is £1k a tipper truck £1k a caravan £1k etc.
    Think they are here for a big party !

    Tdc you keep saying you need funds,hey go get some from the travellers.

    • If its going to be a council owned site then should the Romany or Pavee community’s (Travellers) pay for it?

      Do people on or waiting for council houses pay for those to be built?

      • Once there is an established stopping site any Travellers using it should be charged a weekly fee to cover the costs of running it and also a deposit which is returned if the site is left clean and tidy.

        To use the example above, Council tenants are charged a rent to cover the costs of providing their home. Travellers should also be charged a fee. I would also make it mandatory to pay by card to stop a load of working on the side and being paid in cash.
        Let’s hope TDC actually get their backsides in gear to sort some sites out to prevent this farcical merry go round of unauthorised stopping and being moved on.

      • Don’t you read? I guess not. They have tried to buy a site andd run it themselves last year however the local people stopped it happening. So yes they do try to pay for things themselves but it’s the code minded bigoted locals who complain about travelers follow their traditional then block any moved they maker to solve the issues. As to rubbish they always ask for bins to be supplied and it’s the council that always refuses so again who is at fault?

        • Many a time travellers are give large bins to use, if you go past Dreamland they are there to be seen. But they seem unable to use them most of the time. But why should the council tax payers pay for the removal of their rubbish and the rubbish they been paid to take away from gullible householders. When they put nothing into the pot.

          • Are they? Have you got proof to your claim? There are bins there but the usuql type unless others have been put there recently.

            The bins are used till they are full..same when the bins around the beqxhes are full…the beach is then awash with littler.

            Ot just Travellers who make a mess or is it only Travellers you want to focus on?

            The rest of your rant is stereotypical nonsense which yoh wouldnt be able to support with evidence.

          • I am wondering which bits you are having problems with, the large bins are there for you to see, if you go to the Dreamland carpark. Also many travellers have vans with the service of rubbish clearance advertised on the side,. I have never seen any of them mention their waste licence carrier number. If they do not have a waste carriers licence it is against the law to transport waste. So where do they get of the rid of the waste collected? Also in what way do they pay in for the services they use? Please enlighten me.

  2. I object to our Council Tax being used to clean up the trash and repair the damage these travellers fo to our environment. I think an up front payment should be made and available to the Council to pay for clearing rubbish etc left by travellers. If I took a caravan to a site I would be expected to pay for it.

    • How do you work it out that council tax is paid for the things you say in regards od these communities?

      Even if it was would you say the same about the council cleaning up the beaches and some of the worst roads in the area?

      Why is it only the money that is speant on thse communities that ails you?

  3. It appears that a set of double standards is in operation here.

    Local authorities are not permitted to evict “travellers” from illegal sites but at the same time “travellers” are permitted to wander around the country from illegal site site to illegal site as they wish . . . and yet police and council time and resources still have to be wasted on “welfare checks”.

    What a wonderful waste of council tax payers money – more especially as people living permanently in flats and houses have to pay council tax whereas those swanning around the country at will in caravans do not. I assume that all the council tax payers of Thanet are satisfied that their money is being put to good use.

    • Hi can you define your interpretation of ‘illegal’

      These camps are not illegal….they are unauthorised.

      The rest of your rant is simple ‘little engerlander’ spiel and usually ignored by decent minded people.

      • As the gates leading onto this area are kept locked, and the gate is now open. Was the breaking of the gate to gain entry illegal or unauthorised? Or are you going try to say the gate was open when they arrived? Then say they are not laughing at everyone.

  4. I wonder how they got in. My best guess is when they arrived they found the lock broken. If this is the case the Council should go and fix the lock, and have security staff letting them out. But not back in. Travellers do not like being trapped in. If they need to go shopping or to any imaginary hospital appointments they can jump on a bus or pay for a taxi. If they see Thanet is not a soft target they might go elsewhere. At the moment they are laughing at everyone.

    • Why should they go elsewhere?

      Is Thanet only for ‘local people’

      Perhaps only those botn here?

      What of the children from these community’s who were born here.

      One was actually born in Dreamland car park!

      Your recommendation for dealing with people who have been allowed to stay because of government guidelines is to put 2-4-6 security guards on a gate to stop people leaving in their cars to go shopping etc

      Thereby adding to people using public transport wbilst ignoring the right to free movement which is part of human rights.

      You would override human rights (including your own) to get back at the communities you think are laughing at you?

  5. The gate was locked before they got there like it always is. If they didn’t cut the lock off how did they break through? This is a secure site. If they can get away with breaking in here they will just break in anywhere they like with impunity. Vandalism along with breaking and entering is a crime for lawful persons so why not travellers?

  6. How about doing some welfare checks on the local residents as well. Those local residents who pay taxes to live where they do for local services?

    • Send a request to your councillor asking for such. The comments section of a local paper might not be the best place for your suggestion.

      A flow chart of how you see that working id applied might help too.

  7. Tdc useless, maybe we should all stop paying the council, till it grows some balls and stand up to and enforce the law. But is easier to fine locals for a dropped fag butt or crisp packet your kid dropped, then actually doing there over paid jobs

    • Will you be ‘growing some balls’ and leading in not paying the council?

      Which law is it the council is not enforcing?

      And bow is it to your detriment?

  8. Councils all over the country are scared of them as are the police .They get away with murder literally as we have seen on the news this week.

  9. Jim really, why not opened your home to these people, maybe your see what there really like. We all pay so why do they think they deserve it all the free.

  10. Your post borders on criminality…which would suggest you are not as alawbiding as you would have us think.

    Many non-Traveller commit horrendous crimes…do you go onto the local paper highliggthing those crimes too?

    If not why not…are you a bit of a racist on the not so quiet?

    • They are entitled to be in the area as much as your are!

      No one has to open their door to you do they? Im sure many wouldnt.

      I certainly wouldnt.

      Why should others have to open their doot to anyone wanting to visit or live in the area.

      Your post is rather puerile.

  11. I think you will find this bit of Land was left to the people of Margate for there use it is not owned by the Council so they should have no say in it l have lived here for 38 years and the Council have all ways been trying to get it to put houses on it but never been able to l would like to no if this has changed

  12. Tony Evans…Im not having problems with any of it…it would seem it is you that has the problem – with people you dont know or know nothing about.

    Big bins, like the ones on the corner of many roads in Thanet because of the flytipping by people living in the near by houses and flats? And even then there is always piles of rubbish beside the bins or left on the corners.

    Seems like its not just Travellers who litter but thats who you have decided to rant about.

    You speak of “many Travellers” offering waste removal…are theses “many Travellers” among those Travellers the article is about or do you think all Travellers are one and the same?

    Do waste carries have to have their licence numbers displayed on their vehicle?

    Might that explain why you are mysterfied by not seeing waste licences on Traveller vehicles and of course the fact they might not be in that business.

    You probably havent seen pilot licences on their vans either. Theres another mystery for you to stay awake at night over.

    The rest of your post is disingenuous!

    Posting hypothetical scenarios and then following on as if they are nailed down facts.

    Im sorry but to me it seems clear you are a prejudiced bigot when it comes to Travellers.

    Bent a knee recently?

    Might you be a hypocrite as well?

    Oh dear.

Comments are closed.