Council seeks repossession of Carnival Field from travellers

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Cheshire East Council is seeking to repossess Carnival Field after travellers, who were issued with a notice to leave last week, failed to move on.

They arrived on Wednesday, 3rd July, having been ordered to leave the Wilmslow High School fields. The group spent a couple of weeks on the fields adjacent to the A34 bypass before moving on and leaving the High School facing a bill of about £10,000 to clean up after them.

A spokesperson for Cheshire East Council said: "The Council is aware of the Gypsies/Travellers that are now based on Carnival Fields, Altrincham Road, Wilmslow. Their arrival follows their eviction by the Council from nearby school fields, off the A34.

"We have begun the legal process to secure repossession of the Carnival Field as soon as possible. A Council officer issued the Travellers with a notice to leave the site last Friday (July 5), but they are still there. We will be in the County Court, in Macclesfield, on Thursday to seek a repossession order.

"The rubbish left behind on the playing fields is the responsibility of the school and they will be cleaning it in due course. The police are aware of the Travellers and are, like Council officers, frustrated with the group's movements.

"Cleaning up after unauthorised and illegal encampments costs our communities and local taxpayers thousands of pounds. This is money that could otherwise be spent on improving our roads or local services."

Tags:
Carnival Field, Cheshire East Council, Travellers, Wilmslow High School
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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Neil Matthews
Tuesday 9th July 2013 at 8:01 am
This is beginning to become a farce! Not only do the High School have to foot the tidy up bill but we are now incurring legal costs as well as more tidying costs. In the end it all comes out of our taxes, which the travellers don't pay. Why are they not fined for littering as a bare minimum - if you throw an apple core out of your car window infront of a police officer (providing you can find a PC round here) see how quickly you get fined...
Derek Stevens
Tuesday 9th July 2013 at 8:09 am
Why is this council spokesperson spouting out 'the bleeding obvious'. What we want to know is how are they are going prevent this ridiculous situation happening every few months.
Vic Barlow
Tuesday 9th July 2013 at 12:27 pm
It's public money so it doesn't count!

Public money is the cheapest you can get. No shareholders meetings, no dividends to pay, no financial institutions on your tail, no performance indicators, no pressure. Just dip on the well and help yourself.
Maria Quin
Tuesday 9th July 2013 at 1:36 pm
Vic - you are so right (as usual) - as are those who can't understand why these people are allowed to constantly break the laws of the land and pay no penalty or receive any punishment whatsoever! Surely to God there is some means within our legal system to either extract clean up funds from these people or have them made to clear up their own mess?? They all have big cars and flash caravans so they have money (seen Gypsy Weddings)? Or they could be arrested and made to clear up as a community service order?

And hows about the council use some of our hard earned to install some better methods of securing these fields we know the travellers use? Gates don't stop them - nor do padlocks. Why not something similar to those used to prevent ram raiders? If they can't get their vehicles on - they can't camp there. At £10,000 a clear up - probably half a dozen times a year - surely that would be a good investment as well as preventing the danger to the environment these folk cause?

I know the police policy is to try and keep things pleasant but why exactly is that? Why should these dirty fly tippers be pussy-footed around when decent, law abiding citizens are punished for much, much lesser offences? Enough!
Stuart Kinsey
Tuesday 9th July 2013 at 2:13 pm
Surely it is not beyond the wit of our Cheshire East Councilors / Legal Dept., and the Police to apply legitimate means to deter future abuse of public spaces by travellers? If "visitors" new that once on a site, the site will be closed off by Police (or agents of the Police) who then only allowed the travellers to leave with their garbage, then the travellers may not be so keen to create rubbish in the first place.

The travellers behaviour is a form of anarchy which, if left un-chllenged, weakens democracy.
Ruth Murray
Tuesday 9th July 2013 at 2:14 pm
WITHOUT PREJUDICE

It is so simple as to be ridiculous, the Government has the power to change the law so that gypsies have to pay council tax, there is no rule or silly little obscurity in the law that cannot be overcome.

Gypsies should have to have an NI number, the same as every other person in the country, they then have to pay contributions, which could be allocated to central government, then any local authorities could apply to that central department for the costs of clean up after them. If the Government does not have the power to change the Law then get us out of Europe, when people voted and agreed to Europe it was to a financial common market for trading purposes only, not to have our laws run roughshod over so that we have actually no power over our own country, I believe somewhere in the laws of this land it is written that anybody handing over power of this country to a foreign power is guilty of treason.

The problem is that no government understands how much the law abiding tax payers of the UK are bitter about the amount of our money that is squandered on farcical situations that frankly border on being illegal, as it should be illegal for councils and/or governments to squander money that does not belong to them, whilst leaving essential services straining to the point of collapse under the stress of lack of funding.

Sadly it is the same with the Health Service, the Legal Service, the Education Service, the Housing Service and every other service that you, the paying public provide to an ever growing number of gypsies, illegal immigrants and lawless parasites that infest this beautiful country because we give everything for nothing.

Wait until your mother, child or dearest relative needs important health care, legal help or emergency housing, there will be nothing for you, the services are not for the working taxpayer, you are just the sucker that pays for them for everybody but you when you need them. I have first hand experience of this so I know what I am talking about.

If the gypsies do not want to pay Council Tax then it is simple they can clear up after themselves they all have vehicles which can transport them to the tip in the same way that I have to do when I clear my garden once a year.

I have no doubt that there will be somebody somewhere who wont like the contents of this post, if it gets through, we do not even have freedom of speech any more!
Mark Goldsmith
Tuesday 9th July 2013 at 2:42 pm
Fly tipping carry's a 12 month prison sentence.

So, what is our police force and our Police Commissioner (with his team of a dozen "support staff") doing to impose this?

I mean, you don't have to be Hercules Poirot to figure it out "who done it".

As always - we just keep paying the bills though, while everyone else takes liberties.
Tom Long
Tuesday 9th July 2013 at 3:28 pm
I wholeheartedly agree that something has to be done about this blatant abuse of our community, but before we all jump up and down, many of us should be hanging our heads in shame, all of those members of the same community who accepted offers of "cheap" drives, "cheap" tree/hedge pruning should now look at the cost in its entirety, there is no "cheap" here in fact it is ridiculously expensive. If people are prepared to pay these "travellers" to work of this nature then they encourage them to return time and again.
So next time someone bowls up offering to do that job think hard and long about the real long term cost. Tradesman rarely knock on doors touting for work, the "travellers" are easy to identify, no local phone numbers, often using 0845 type numbers to gain credence, so decline, starve them of "work" and they will move on.
Donald Patterson
Tuesday 9th July 2013 at 3:57 pm
I absolutely agree with the last comment (Tom Long), if these guys don't have any work, they will quickly move on. Also why don't our recreational areas have better security? a gate with a padlock is simply not good enough, surely spend the £10k on securing these sites rather than wasting it on clean ups everytime the trash somewhere.

My house backs onto the Carnival Feild and these people have no regard for anyone, on Sunday night one of there dogs was barking constantly until 4am, not to mention the constant noise from the generators, then last night revving engines and loud music until gone 10.30pm.

The sooner the Police and Government start clamping down on these groups of people the better.
Marilyn and Brian Connolly
Tuesday 9th July 2013 at 8:19 pm
Clamp every vehicle on the field, refuse to release the clamps until they have collected up all their trash, ensure that they are charged enough for release of the clamps to cover the cost of the removal of all their trash and reinstatement of any damage to the field and do not release them until the money has been handed over. This should be done routinely in addition to changes in the law to ensure that they have to pay Council Tax, and WE HAVE TO STOP THEM RECEIVING MEDICAL TREATMENT AND BENEFITS which are handed out at a severe cost to the sick, elderly and those genuinely in need who are refused the help they need.
Maria Quin
Tuesday 9th July 2013 at 8:58 pm
Well said, Marilyn - what a great idea! Lets hope someone takes note and actually does something like this instead of walking on eggshells for fear of upsetting these nuisances!!
Chris Jones
Wednesday 10th July 2013 at 6:08 am
Very well said Ruth and i totally agree. I like most am sick of being a second class citizen in my own country.
Richard Bullock
Wednesday 10th July 2013 at 8:13 am
To Donald Patterson: I think they arrived the day the circus was leaving - so presumably the gates would have been unlocked and open.

The court date is tomorrow, so I presume the council has secured other areas of open grassland from entry (e.g. the Jim Evison fields)?
Luke Bowdler
Wednesday 10th July 2013 at 2:18 pm
I would appear that as well as general rubbish there is also rubble being dumped in the tree line parallel with Park Road. Beer bottles are strewn across the field and bags of rubbish are festering in the heat under several trees causing a foul stench. There is a mini digger located adjacent to the tree line that is obviously used to move the rubble as it is too large to be dumped by hand. Why have the police not done anything to prevent/resolve this issue? Many local residents now avoid using the field at all and have to travel to walk dogs/exercise on alternative areas. I was told that they would be served a notice to leave the site by 5PM Monday the 8th. Why was this not enforced? I cannot believe that the Council have to go through the cost of a Court session to remove them. Also as others have said in the past if people do not use their services then they will have to move. Who is using them for work?
Lisa Reeves
Thursday 11th July 2013 at 12:45 pm
Cheshire East Council were given a repossession order at Macclesfield Court this morning by District Judge Wallace.

The Council has now given notice to the travellers to leave Carnival Field today. If they have not done so by 5pm then officers have said they intend to turn up with the bailiffs to enforce the order.

CEC has also confirmed that they have been going round all of the areas in Wilmslow and Alderley Edge Area where they feel the travellers might attempt to gain access to check locks on a daily basis.
Maria Quin
Thursday 11th July 2013 at 1:12 pm
Think it needs more than checking locks I'm afraid. The travellers carry tools and just break locks, padlocks etc. it needs to be ram raider style, some proper law enforcement and/or social security changes. Also - good idea for everyone to stop them doing work. It's not cheap if it ends up increasing our Council Tax costs. We need to stop treating them like privileged beings and make them tow the line like the rest of us!
Hannah Ritchie
Thursday 11th July 2013 at 2:39 pm
I'm currently sat in my garden that backs off onto the carnival fields watching the fly tipping happen. Right now ... I got my camera and took a few shots, but realistically what good will they do if it being allowed to happen in the first place? In the last 20 minutes there has been 4 big pick-up trucks heaped with rubble and God knows what else back all dumped into the bushes closest to my home! They just dump the entire contents and drive away! Mounds and mounds of it ... it been happening everyday ...more so today. What I want to know is where is the police? WHY isn't something being done? The noise from the generators, music, dogs and screaming children has been bad enough without even mentioning the fear of robbery or worse. I just cant get my head around why they cannot be moved on AND fined!?!
John Hannah
Thursday 11th July 2013 at 4:07 pm
Would any official from Cheshire East care to comment? Or perhaps someone can respond from Wilmslow police to explain why crime is not crime if perpetrated by Travellers?

Anyone can film trucks dumping rubbish with registration plates on show and upload to YouTube , forward to our MP etc etc
Hannah Ritchie
Thursday 11th July 2013 at 5:23 pm
Well the Thursday deadline of removal of 5pm has come and gone and nothing has been done once again! What a surprise that both the council and local police are a complete waste of space.

I can see onto Carnival Fields over my back fence right now at 6:25pm on Thursday 11th July and the "community" are just sat out in the sun eating their dinner and still blasting out their rubbish music for all to endure! They must have worked up a hefty appetite after all the truck loads of fly tipping on the field that they have been doing today which I've had the pleasure of watching!

Well done Cheshire Council and well done to the Wilmslow Police Force. Another job well done.
Marilyn and Brian Connolly
Thursday 11th July 2013 at 8:08 pm
What a ludicrous situation - is our Police Commissioner, John Dwyer, involved in any of this ? Is there anything he can do to get the police working more effectively?
Brendan Norton
Friday 12th July 2013 at 8:31 am
Hannah:
Could you ring the local police to report the fly tipping? Tell them you have photographic evidence and insist on getting a crime reference number. I think you need to dial 101 for reporting a non-emergency crime [1].

I think we would all be interested to know the response you get back. If you/we are not satisfied with the outcome, then the next step could be to complain to the Police Crime Commissioner. The PCC web page currently says that since the PCC began, no complaints have been filed. The link to the PCC complaints page for Cheshire is here [2].

It may be the case that you just get fobbed off, but at least you will have an audit trail of being fobbed off to take further.

[1] http://tinyurl.com/lfsz7tq
[2] http://tinyurl.com/qj6xh75
Mark Goldsmith
Friday 12th July 2013 at 10:14 am
Don't people realise it's the travellers human right to lead an antisocial life.

The council has a duty to protect their ancient culture, so can't interfere. The police have to complete detailed risk assessments before they can act, by which time the travellers will have moved on.

Meanwhile, the PCC is too busy recruiting staff and sending out surveys to bother with any real crime.

And don't forget its our human right to just pay for the privilege of all of this without questioning why we bother.

We will then be expected to listen to all their complaining about how there is not enough money for front line services and why council tax and the police precept has to go up.
Gretchen Dyson
Friday 12th July 2013 at 12:45 pm
Dear George Osborne,

Are you there? Should you be the only person in public office strong enough to push the legal system into the present century by outlawing this gypsy lifestyle, another term would surely be yours!

Your comments please?
Alistair Yates
Tuesday 16th July 2013 at 4:22 pm
I don't fully understand why this is taking so long for the Local Authorities to deal with, it would appear from the following link that police can serve eviction notices within hours where travellers' choice of site interferes with community events. Surely that is the case with the Carnival fields, I know football training is carried out there.

http://bit.ly/18m1dsi