A group have been given their marching orders
Blaise Castle has been left littered after a group of travellers departed the area(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
Locals are fuming after Bristol’s Blaise Castle estate was left a mess by Travellers who have been given their marching orders.
The group arrived on the estate last week and appear to have now left after being issued an eviction notice by police.
Despite the order not coming into effect until 8am on Monday, the group have left the estate prematurely.
On social media, one user shared photos of the estate following the travellers’ departure, writing: “Very sad, nappies, broken plastic, fast food packaging – not ideal for dogs or kids :(“
Many were upset by the littering, with one comment writing: “It is a sad reflection on a portion of society”.
While another called it “upsetting”.
Mark Weston, Conservative Councillor for Henbury & Brentry, wrote on Facebook yesterday – July 25: “I know that the last week has been hard. I have spent much of it dealing concerned residents whilst bouncing between various Council Departments and the Police. So here is the latest update- I have some good news and then bad news to make you aware of:
“Good news – Due to the large number of reports on the anti-social behaviour in and around the encampment at Blaise the Police have decided that the level of disruption is significant enough for them to use their powers under The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (1994) to remove them. They will be evicting the travellers (this is quicker than going to court).
“Bad news – although the formal eviction notice was served this afternoon the formal eviction won’t commence on site until 8am on Monday 28 July. So there is one more weekend to go.
“On Monday morning the Police will be on site to formally evict them. The parks department will also be on hand to start the clear up (I am guessing it will not be pretty) and re-secure the site. I have also also asked the Parks department to double check the locks and security at nearby open spaces as well in case they try to bounce form here to another local site.
“I have also spoken to the Council’s Chief Executive this morning to stress the need to speed up the entire eviction process and ‘target-harden’ our parks and green spaces to make it harder for travellers to gain entry. I will keep pushing on this.
“In the meantime time I would encourage everyone to keep reporting every occurrence of anti-social behaviour to the police (or Crimestoppers if you want to remain anonymous) throughout the weekend.
“As and when I have another update I will come back to everyone.”
Others were weary to demonise the group, with one person writing: “It’s very sad that people are being displaced! Sometimes rubbish is left, but sometimes there is nowhere to put rubbish and you can’t go to the tip without an address. Honestly the demonisation of travellers and anyone in the GRT community is MINGING and you all need to check yourselves”.
The original poster of the photographs replied: “I appreciate that, however there ARE places to dispose of rubbish in Blaise, I stated earlier there are bins within walking distance, and littering to this extent begs the question of whether it’s intentional.
“Very little amounts of rubbish are in rubbish bags, there are nappies with human faeces left which can be toxic, broken plastic which is a hazard for humans and dogs, not to mention leftover food which is the same.
“There were duvets and boxes of stuff, this isn’t just the odd litter, it’s people clearing their homes and living spaces of stuff they don’t want to keep and rubbish they don’t want to dispose of. Yes this happens, yes this is common – it doesn’t make it right and shouldn’t be ignored. The post isn’t to dehumanise these people.”