Officials from Northumbria Police and Northumberland County Council have admitted that the powers available to deal with unauthorised encampments are insufficient, after a group of caravans stayed on Hexham’s Tyne Green for more than a month this summer.
The issue was discussed at a meeting of the Tynedale Local Area Community Partnership on Tuesday evening, where angry residents challenged police and council representatives over the response. Officials said they had done all they could in the circumstances, but residents remained dissatisfied.
Local people reported horses being kept in a playpark and raced along roads, abusive behaviour from campers and large open fires. The reports came even after national alerts about the dangers of wildfires.
Residents demand action before next summer
Louise Simpson told the meeting there had been an “absolute failure” to deal with the situation and said residents had been “ignored” by police and the council.
Karen Bewick asked what would be done before next summer to prevent a repeat. “We can argue about what did and didn't happen - we all know what happened,” she said. “My question is what are you going to do? What is going to be done in advance of next summer so we don't have a repeat of this?”
Derek Kennedy, the Mayor of Hexham and one of the town’s county councillors, said Tyne Green had been abused and turned into “a holiday camp”. He said the focus should be on what would happen next year and asked what measures could be put in place if hot summers led to further problems.
“This sounds beyond tolerance,” Coun Kennedy said. “If we're going to have long hot summers going forward, what do we need to do to measures in place to mitigate further issues?”
Why removing an encampment can take weeks
Ken McDonald, Northumberland County Council’s Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Liaison Officer, explained that removing people who did not want to leave involved a complex legal process.
That process includes serving several notices to individual caravans and obtaining an order from a Magistrates’ Court. Mr McDonald said the order could take weeks to obtain and that there was no way to circumvent the process unless the situation reached a level at which police intervention was justified.
“People might not like it, but that is the process that we have,” he said.
Mr McDonald said there had been between 85 and 90 encampments across Northumberland, describing the issue as a growing problem across the county and the country. He said the powers were probably not robust enough and that the threshold for police enforcement was high.
He said Northumberland County Council had used the powers available to it and that he did not think anything else could have happened. He also said the issue was being seen along the coast, from Newbiggin to Bamburgh, and that websites were telling people where they could camp for free.
“The legislation isn't fit for purpose,” he said.
Police say five reports were received
West Tynedale Neighbourhood Inspector Kate Benson said police had received five incident reports during the eight weeks of summer. She said there were several difficulties concerning what officers could do and that police worked closely with council colleagues.
For police to intervene, she said, there had to be significant harm, damage or disruption. Taking a case to court required a high threshold, and officers had assessed the recorded crimes and available information as having a low impact on the community.
“That threshold has to be met and it has to be proportionate,” Insp Benson said.
She said a multi-agency meeting held earlier in the week had produced a 10-point plan intended to prevent a recurrence next summer. The plan is expected to be made public in the future.
Insp Benson also reminded residents that the local Facebook page Hexham Matters was not a reporting system. She said incidents should be reported directly to police, adding that officers could only work with information provided to them.
“An allegation isn't evidence - we need to prove beyond reasonable doubt that these have occurred,” she said. “Sometimes our hands are tied - you're not being ignored. We're trying our best, but but it's not going to happen overnight.”
Council accepts response was not effective
Coun John Riddle, Northumberland County Council’s cabinet member for environment, rejected the suggestion that the council had been inactive, but acknowledged that its response had not been effective.
He said there were “quick wins” that could be introduced before next year and urged people to report incidents to police, saying evidence was needed before the proper legislation could be used.
“This is a growing problem nationally. It isn't going to go away,” Coun Riddle said. “We need to work together to manage it.”
He added that the council had been trying to solve the problem, while accepting that its efforts had not been successful.
