Public meeting on Travellers, Teesdale Mercury

Public meeting on Travellers

Jun 30, 2008

A PUBLIC meeting is being planned to give Staindrop residents the chance to help develop future arrangements for Travellers visiting the village.

The Teesdale Residents’ and Travellers’ Forum wants to hold a public meeting to discuss possible arrangements for Travellers who stop off at Staindrop on their way to the Appleby Horse Fair.  It follows a number of concerns being raised by local residents about some members of the Travelling communities who had stopped in the village prior to this year’s event.

Complaints from villagers included allegations of anti-social behaviour, particularly on the Beckside and the surrounding area, which resulted in land-owner Raby Estates erecting a barrier fence to prevent people using the site on their return journey from Appleby.

“We need to try to respond to the events in Staindrop as quickly as possible and we need the help of local people to see what can be done,” says Chair of the Forum, Councillor Tony Cooke.  “In the past we have consulted residents in both Stainton Grove and Winston, working together as Forum partners to address the issues, and getting results.  We hope that by involving Staindrop residents, the parish council and local district councillors, we can achieve a similar degree of success.  There are no magic formulas but we hope that by involving everyone we can try to improve the situation for residents in the affected area.”

The Forum is encouraging villagers to attend to listen to their experiences, suggestions and problem solving ideas.

One possibility could be to set up a temporary site for the Travelling communities to use when they are going to and from the annual Appleby Horse Fair.  Local people will be asked to help identify the most suitable location.

It is hoped that the meeting will take place in the next two to three weeks, in advance of the next Teesdale Neighbourhood Policing and Parish Forum on Monday 21 July, where the issue could become a new ‘neighbourhood priority’.  

“Everyone accepts that there was some bad behaviour this year and many residents were genuinely worried and angry about what happened,” says Inspector Kevin Tuck.

“The Police must, and did respond to the crime related incidents but it is the actual civil trespass in the first place which causes the entire problem. Dealing with trespass is the responsibility of the landowner and the District and County Councils in the first instance, and is very complicated. For this reason the Forum want to try and problem solve and needs the opinion and support of the village”.

Overall, reports to the Police regarding complaints about Travellers across the whole of the Dale were down from 52 to 31 this year. However, the majority  focussed on Staindrop and, in particular, the Beckside.

Most calls revolved around the actual civil trespass and environmental issues, but some were disorder related with one serious offence of robbery resulting in six arrests and a man being remanded in custody.

“Accepting that the Travellers will return, we should all work together to try and find real solutions to these community concerns”, says Scott McInally, Strategic Manager – Communities, who is responsible for Durham County Council’s Travellers Liaison Service.

“The issues arising from civil trespass affect the whole of County Durham and indeed the rest of the UK. Teesdale, however, is years ahead of many other districts due to it’s pro-active problem solving approach to the issues, and the support we offer to the Travellers who pass through Teesdale. Force and eviction can be hugely expensive and often throw up as many problems as they attempt to solve in the process.  The provision of suitable facilities provides better outcomes for all concerned.”

Elsewhere, new partial target hardening at Winston has been hailed a success.  £12,500 was spent dividing off the grassed areas, thus managing the trespass to the north side of the A67.

At the start of the Traveller season there were trespass problems on fields near to Stainton Grove. Teesdale District Council took the decision to open the “temporary area of acceptance” at Shaw Bank early to successfully resolve the problem.

The other official area at Broomielaw has been used extensively by travellers.

Target hardening measures at the Demesnes and Stainton Grove also successfully prevented problems seen in previous years.

This year, Cumbria Police estimated that 2500 caravans and 10,000 travellers visited Appleby for the historic horse fair.