New facilities for Travellers ready to open

Chiseldon Firs, located just outside Chiseldon and owned and operated by Swindon Borough Council, is a facility offered as a safe place for Travellers who come into Swindon looking to stay for a short time.

The site, which provides pitches, toilets, cleaning facilities and a play area, has recently been refurbished to encourage more groups to use it.

It means the Council will be able to offer it to any groups who come into the Borough as an alternative to them setting up camp on open green spaces and potentially causing damage to the local environment.

If the site is offered and not accepted, it allows the Council and Wiltshire Police to take quicker action to get any groups to move on.

As part of the refurbishment, funded by more than £500,000 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, new water systems have been installed, the toilet and shower block has been enhanced offering individual cubicles, a new play area has been installed and a washing-up facility has been created. There is also a dedicated bin store and grass patch for any animals.

Councillor Janine Howarth, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “Chiseldon Firs had been neglected for so long that groups coming into Swindon would refuse to use it because it no longer suited their needs.

“Now there’s a dedicated location where these groups can go and make full use of the facilities and there is no excuse for them setting up illegal encampments elsewhere in the Borough.

“While some groups may still decide to use our green spaces as temporary bases, having Chiseldon Firs on offer will mean that, if it’s refused, we’ll be able to take quicker and stronger action to get any disruptive groups to move on.”

The site can also be booked in advance by groups who may want to use it if they know they’re passing through.