{"id":914512,"date":"2026-04-24T03:28:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T03:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/914512\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T03:28:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T03:28:19","slug":"council-steps-in-as-historic-edinburgh-site-targeted-again-by-travellers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/914512\/","title":{"rendered":"Council steps in\u00a0as historic Edinburgh site \u201ctargeted\u201d\u00a0again\u00a0by travellers"},"content":{"rendered":"

It appears that the group smashed\u00a0their way through a fence to gain access to the green space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Outraged locals have\u00a0accused the group of travellers of breaking through the perimeter fence\u00a0of the site, which sits at a junction of the M8<\/a> and M9 motorways, near Edinburgh Airport,\u00a0to gain access.\u00a0More than a dozen caravans are now parked on the site\u00a0<\/p>\n

They have now demanded the council act and evict the travellers, while the council say they\u00a0sent\u00a0officers to the site\u00a0on Wednesday\u00a0to\u00a0\u201cassess the situation\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The site, which is of significant historical interest as an ancient burial cairn, has been the frequent target of travellers in the past, with locals warning of traveller vandalism<\/a>\u00a0last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The travelling community now occupying Huly Hill have been accused of destroying part of the site\u2019s perimeter fence<\/p>\n

The main feature of the site is\u00a0a\u00a0the\u00a0main feature is a 30 metre diameter earthen burial mound, surrounded by a modern retaining wall. Around the mound are three standing stones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Action was eventually taken by the Newbridge and Ratho Station Community Association, who, together with local businesses, placed concrete blocks at key points to prevent entry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The group of travellers appear to have\u00a0forced entry\u00a0anyway, however,\u00a0through a weak point in the fence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement, a spokesperson for Newbridge and Ratho Station Community Association said: \u201cHuly\u00a0Hill is a site of significant archaeological importance, featuring a cairn and stone circle that date back to\u00a0approximately 2500 BC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe site was famously excavated in 1830, a process that uncovered\u00a0various items\u00a0of\u00a0historical interest and solidified its status as a piece of Scotland\u2019s ancient heritage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite its protected status, the area has become a frequent target for unauthorised camps.\u00a0Local residents\u00a0remain\u00a0haunted by the events of last year, when a large group of travellers occupied the land for an extended period.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u00a0occupation left the community to deal with a massive clean-up operation involving mounds of rubbish, discarded\u00a0appliances such as fridges, and human faeces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, Edinburgh Council blocked plans to properly secure the site, forcing the Newbridge and Ratho Station\u00a0Community Association to find other solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing\u00a0previous\u00a0incursions, the association reached out to local\u00a0businesses for support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA nearby concrete company stepped in to donate heavy-duty concrete barriers, which were\u00a0installed to block the majority of the site.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"There<\/a>There are now around a dozen caravans on the site<\/p>\n

The spokesperson went on to say that the\u00a0portion\u00a0of the fence now destroyed was highlighted to the\u00a0council\u00a0as a weak spot, but this warning was ignored.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They are now saying that the traveller group\u00a0identified\u00a0the weakness and destroyed the section of fence to gain access to the site.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Locals have now once again petitioned the council to secure the site and evict the travellers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community went to great lengths to secure this site because we knew the risks,\u201d one local, who wished to remain nameless, noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see that effort undermined is heartbreaking for everyone who cares about our local\u00a0history and\u00a0remembers how much environmental damage the last travelling community caused.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Locals have also reported feeling threatened when\u00a0attempting\u00a0to access the heritage site, and there is a growing sense of anger against the \u201cinaction\u201d of Police Scotland and the council.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Traveller communities have protected status in Scotland, and local authorities must\u00a0negotiate systems of\u00a0bureaucratic\u00a0red tape before an eviction notice can be issued by the courts.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>An entire portion of the fence has been smashed through<\/p>\n

The council say they will assess the situation\u00a0today, and a series of visits to the site are understood to be planned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Early on Wednesday, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, Tim Pogson, said:\u00a0 \u201cI completely understand and share concerns that residents have raised. Officers will be visiting the site today to assess the situation and\u00a0determine\u00a0what immediate steps can be taken.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, officers met with representatives from the local community,\u00a0HES\u00a0and Police Scotland to explore longer-term measures to secure the site, alongside interim arrangements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much of the land is owned by the Scottish Government, we will continue to work with them and partners to support progress towards longer-term solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like this:<\/p>\n

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\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It appears that the group smashed\u00a0their way through a fence to gain access to the green space.\u00a0 Outraged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":914513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,5034,1102,37802,4884,256716,218196,712,16,15,48868,248920],"class_list":["post-914512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edinburgh","tag-britain","tag-council","tag-edinburgh","tag-edinburgh-council","tag-great-britain","tag-huly-hill","tag-m8","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-vandalism","tag-west-edinburgh"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}