Any action is set to take time
Caravans and vans parked on Parry Lane on the Downs
Bristol City Council has announced it will begin the process of moving vehicle dwellers along from the Downs, after receiving “a detailed complaint about areas of the Downs being used as a toilet”. As a result, the encampment around the Downs – which numbers between 100 and 150 vehicles – has been classified a “high impact” site.
However, there remains significant doubt about what exactly the council will do, or when. The council’s statement merely stated: “we are currently working on an enforcement plan to begin to move the group of lived in vehicles from the Downs”.
Ben Richie, a spokesperson for the Bristol Housing Action Movement, said the council’s hands were likely to be tied until the outcome of an injunction hearing on December 5, which may or may not grant it powers to demand people leave the area. Mr Richie also slammed the council for bowing to the demands of groups such as Protect The Downs, who have threatened the council with legal action over its handling of the issue, without properly engaging with the people living in vehicles.
“The reason they’re being vague is because of the court case, that’s when they’re going to try and get an overall injunction (against the vehicle dwellers),” he said. “We know the council are under an awful lot of pressure from the Downs Committee to move people off the site (but) we don’t even know whether they’ve really approached the people on the site and said, ‘Have you got anywhere else to go?'”
The size of the encampment means any enforcement action the council is able to take following the outcome of the court hearing is set to be complicated. John Goulandris, a Conservative Councillor for Stoke Bishop Ward, which borders the much of the northern edge of the Downs, said the situation had become untenable.
“The number of vans and caravans squatting on the kerbside on the Downs has grown steadily in recent years and the adverse impact this has had on the Downs has been massive,” he said. “There has been a marked increase in litter, flytipping (sic) and antisocial behaviour.
“Human excrement is now a regular feature on the Downs. Inevitably this has put many people off using the Downs, which is a great shame, as the Downs traditionally has been Bristol’s most cherished green space, drawing visitors from right across Bristol.”
Cllr Goulandris said he thought the majority of his constituents would be happy with the council’s announcement. However, he also expressed some scepticism over the speed at which the council could act.
“I know that most residents will be delighted by the Council’s announcement, but some have said to me ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’,” he said. “It remains to be seen whether and over what timescale all the vans and caravans are removed.”
“Local authorities such as Torbay Council have shown that it is possible to ban overnight camping on the highway, but Bristol’s vehicle dweller numbers are higher, so it will be more challenging. That said, it is, of course the right thing to do; living in a van or caravan on the kerbside without basic facilities is not good for the health of vehicle dwellers, it’s not good for nearby local residents and it’s not good for the image of Bristol.”
In the council’s statement, Homes and Housing Delivery Committee Chair Barry Parsons said the council had no desire to simply move people to different roads around the city.
“We do not simply want to displace people around the city, especially during the difficult winter months,” Cllr Parsons said. “We have two outreach workers who will seek to engage with vehicle dwellers – prioritising the most vulnerable people due to capacity – to link them in with support services and help them to secure a route away from vehicle dwelling.”
Another option is for people currently living around the Downs to be moved to so-called “Meanwhile Sites” operated by the council.
These are essentially pitches on council-owned land which provide a spot for people to park their vehicle, and access to facilities – such as toilets – for a weekly fee. However, the council currently only has 65 such pitches available, with about a further 35 due to open ‘soon’.
Mr Richie acknowledged the environmental issues posed by the growth of such a large encampment around the Downs. However, he pointed out the council would not find it easy to relocate people to sites they had to pay for, and said the outreach process promised by Mr Parsons would take a considerable amount of time.
“Engaging with 100 people is going to take more than a few weeks,” he said “Obviously 100 plus people on the Downs is an environmental issue, but there must be a reasonable way to deal with it so that people aren’t just forced away.
“If they say they’re not going to disperse people, are they going to insist people go into particular sites? There’s a lot of people with no money whatsoever, so they’re just going to be left out of all of this?”