A sense of “frustration” is in the air, along with the stench of poo, nappies and rubbish, as a Leeds man battles to stop travellers from so easily breaking into the same sites repeatedly.
The 30-year-old was aghast to learn Leeds City Council has spent more than £378,534.89 of taxpayer’s money in the past two years to deal with unauthorised illegal camps. He thinks they ought to put in firmer deterrents to stop trespass and remove camps quicker.
Councillor Sam Firth is sick and tired of the council paying out so much to accommodate travellers and clear out the sites afterwards. So he demanded the figures of how much it's costing and is taking a stand.
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This comes after travellers have illegally camped in Red Hall Playing Fields, near Shadwell and Scarcroft repeatedly, in July and August. Each time, they simply sawed through the wooden fence at the edge of the field to gain entry.
Leeds City Council has said it is “actively” looking into strengthening barriers to the site. The local authority added as landowners, it has to wait on the judgement of the police to enforce evacuation of the site.
During the travellers’ stay at Red Hall Playing Fields, portaloos provided to them by the council were trashed and vandalised. Plus lots of rubbish was left which is costing the council about £1,900 to clear.
Mr Firth has a particular concern about Red Hall Playing Fields as the site borders his Harewood ward, which covers Shadwell. The Tory councillor said: “Leeds City Council needs to be held accountable for what it is spending its taxpayer’s money on.
“Ultimately, a significant amount of money is being spent on cleaning up and providing facilities to unauthorised illegal camps on sites repetitively, repeatedly on the same site.
“Instead of being proactive and putting in preventions to stop it happening again, no action is immediately taken and then we have the same issues.”
'Frustrating' - the hot spots
Hot spots for illegal traveller camps across Leeds include: Temple Newsam, where £65,043.11 was spent; Gipton and Harehills, where £45,841.52 was spent; and Beeston and Holbeck, where £37,023.35 was spent. The figures covers the council municipal years of May 2020 to May 2022.
Asked how he felt about it, he said: “It’s not upsetting, it’s just frustrating, the fact is we’re asking the same questions over and over again.”
He thinks the council should be harnessing the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This act gives the police more powers to remove illegal camps, hand out fines and seize animals, if needed.
'Faeces, nappies and glass!'
Local resident Claire Smith, 50, walks her dogs at Red Hall Playing Fields every day but “didn’t come at all” when the travellers were there on each occasion, which was roughly two weeks each time.
Claire said: “There was constant driving around in a red car around the field, quad bikes, motorbikes. They vandalised the toilets, I literally have just walked up there and the amount of litter they’ve left! Faeces, nappies and glass! It’s going to take ages to sort that out.
“A lot of people were really upset about the vandalism. The fact the council accommodated them with the toilets and the skip. We just didn’t understand the vandalism, like ‘Why? What’s the reason for that behaviour?’
“It’s the concern that they come back because the council don’t invest in trying to stop them coming in, in the sense of barricading. They just go through the wood and saw it, there’s no sort of concrete or metal protection.”
Council's response
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “The new police powers under the Police, Crime and Sentencing Act 2022 sit with the police force. As landowners we can and do request the police use their powers however this is entirely a police decision as to whether it is warranted.”
The local authority explained the process of ‘negotiated stopping’, whereby travellers are being accommodated during their illegal stay.
The council spokesperson said: “Negotiated stopping is used when groups of Travellers encamp on land that is deemed suitable for a stay of up to 28 days. If this is the case then an agreement is drawn up highlighting expectations and conditions of the stay.
“Alternatively if another piece of land owned by the authority is deemed more suitable then this can be offered for a negotiated stay again for up to 28 days. We provide toilets on all sites both for negotiated sites and while we are awaiting a court hearing date for eviction. We also provide household waste disposal.”
Asked what measures the council put in place to stop travellers entering the Red Hall Playing Field site after the July camp and before the August camp, the council said: “We are actively looking into measures to strengthen the entrance barrier to the site to help deter future encampments.”
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