To manage the authorised and unauthorised occupation of Swindon Borough Council-owned sites and land by gypsies and other travellers. To offer advice to private landowners, local residents and the community as a whole.
Swindon Borough Council in ‘partnership’ with the local police seeks to achieve a lawful, reasonable and proportional approach to conflict resolution.
It must be remembered that courts of justice, both within this country and in Europe, are increasingly seeing the draconian application of civil trespass laws and the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act without proper consideration of human rights, as unacceptable. The Human Rights Act clearly spells out the need for local authorities and the police to take account of the circumstances of each and every encampment and consider ‘needs of common humanity’.
On Swindon Borough Council land (including some parts of the highway), we aim to make our first visit to the reported encampment within the first full working day following the notification of its existence.
During this first visit, a council officer will attempt to identify the group and establish its purpose and intentions. To assist in complying with the legal obligations incumbent on all local authorities, the officer will also begin the process of gathering information in regard to the health, education and welfare of the groups.
Contact will be made with the local police so that the senior police officer can make an informed decision as to whether criminal law powers should be invoked with regard to the circumstances of this particular group. If the decision of the police is not to exercise their powers immediately and instead leave the landowner (private or public) to take legal action, the police will record this fact and keep their decision under constant review.
The council officer then has a duty to consider all the relevant evidence he/she has gathered, the police advice received and the results of the information that was passed to the health, welfare and education agencies.
In reaching a decision, due consideration must also be taken of recent government advice and all current legislation. Any action taken must be lawful, reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances.
If the police decline to act immediately to end the encampment, Swindon Borough Council may agree with the group a leaving date, so as to give the group a period of ‘rest’ in accordance with government guidelines.
Occasionally, the group may not be directed to move straight away due advice received from the health, welfare or education agencies.
Sometimes a suitable group may be offered short-term relocation to the Gypsy transit site at Chiseldon Firs.
Sometimes, a group may just refuse to move.
With any of the above scenarios, the presence of the encampment is under constant review by representatives of all agencies and as a result, the council may have to take legal action (civil or criminal) to obtain possession of their land - a sometimes lengthy and costly process.
The timescale in achieving a successful resolution of an encampment will be as varied as the make-up of the numerous groups that seasonally pass through our area. The final route taken to resolve an encampment may be just as diverse. All depends on the particular circumstances and there is no single answer.
When the group finally move on from Swindon Borough Council land, a council officer will attend the venue and assess if there has been any environmental impact on the location and if any action appears necessary will report his/her findings to the relevant services.
Council tenants and leaseholders are encouraged to give their feedback on the findings of an Options Appraisal...