Forum Topic

Travellers at GWQ/Ealing Road junction

Hi alltravellers have occupied the plot opposite Esso petrol station in GWQ/Ealing Road.They arrived on Thursday 10th January with 8 caravans and are making the plot a dumping site. Everyone at LBH is aware of it, including the Leader of the Council Steve Curran, and apparently nothing can be done: only the landowner can.Their kids are not going to school, it's an hygienic issue, they are bulking up items and this can be a fire hazard, they might be dump toxic liquids/asbestos and we will never know.No one can do anything and of course they will continue doing that forever. Also, other people living on the edge might decide to start a similar business as it is very profitable (they get paid for collecting debris) and get away with murder...

Emanuele Sozzi ● 2769d6 Comments

Unfortunately too many people still hand over rubbish to just anybody (ie unregistered waste collectors) and it isn't disposed of correctly and is just dumped.  Then we all have to pay for it to be disposed of and the owner of the rubbish can also be fined.

Philippa Bond ● 2768d

A couple of years ago travellers occupied a site by my house in Acton late one evening.  The police soon turned up in force (a few cars, couple of vans, numerous police), blocked the entrance and wouldn't let anyone in or out until they'd had a chat with them and they agreed to leave.  The whole thing lasted a few hours with the travellers and police discussing the situation quite peacefully.  After about 4 hours, they all left the site in a convoy.  Yes, it took up a few hours and quite a few police and cars, but in the long run it saved money clearing up a bomb site and they've not been back since. I remember how civilised it was and wonder why this isn't done everywhere.  Maybe it was a slow night for the police?  But it does show that it is possible to do something about it if they want to.

Tania Bapuji ● 2768d

Support for land owners is really important so thank you LBH for doing so.  If the travellers just stopped for a short while it wouldn’t be such a big an issue but it is the debris and upset they leave behind.  That  is where they make their money and we allow them to do so.Wonder how successful parking fines are? ;)I still wonder why we cant get ahead of this happening, especially with modern technology.

Sarah Felstead ● 2769d

Just got this update message from the Leader of the Council:We are doing everything we can to encourage the landowner to start eviction proceedings asap and we have asked our Police Team to keep the site under review. We also have asked our Enforcement Team to issue tickets for any parking infringements.It is for the landowner to deal with this problem, we of course will offer our support. One of our senior enforcement officers will be contacting the landowner again this afternoon to ask for an update on progress for the eviction.

Emanuele Sozzi ● 2769d

I understand Vanessa about evicting them.The problem is not just about getting them evicted: it's about the health and safety risks created by tons of garbage (i.e. rats), hygienic issues (they don't use toilets), illegal dumping of potentially risky materials (who is checking what they are dumping?), by the way their kids are not going to school (anybody cares?).So what I am asking is what the LBH is doing to provide these answers.Getting them out is not the main problem.

Emanuele Sozzi ● 2769d

Tempting though it is to blame Hounslow council - in this instance it's the law. If this site is private property any proceedings to evict are the landowners responsibility.

Vanessa Smith ● 2769d