Bristol City Council will have new powers on travellers' illegal sites
Councils will receive new powers to speed up enforcement action against the scores of traveller caravans on illegal sites in the Bristol region.
Communities Secretary John Denham said the shake-up in planning rules, which will take effect next month, would slash the time that must elapse before councils can take action against unauthorised camps.
Figures published by Mr Denham's Department for Communities and Local Government show that on the last official count South Gloucestershire reported 51 illegally parked caravans on private land, more than double the amount recorded in 2007, and three on traveller-owned land.
A further 206 were logged on the council's records, although they either have planning permission or are "tolerated" by the local authority.
Under the current rules, anyone denied retrospective consent for a development that was built without permission has six months to appeal against the refusal. From April 6, this will be reduced to 28 days.
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by lee, Bristol
Wednesday, March 24 2010, 3:51PM
“Whats the BNP or UKIP'S view on these lazy , selfish , waste of space people why on earth in 2010 and they still want to live in a tin on wheels the goverment treat them like a special case lets help people who need it not lazy boneidle people .”
by joe, kingswood
Wednesday, March 24 2010, 11:38AM
“I dont want to pay for pikeys either, i just dont understand why councils feel the need to support someone that contrubutes nothing back, like council house scum and the great unwashed.”
by South Gloucestershire Dan, South Glos.
Tuesday, March 23 2010, 9:21PM
“Knacker?”
by South Gloucestershire Dan, South Glos.
Tuesday, March 23 2010, 9:20PM
“Looks like key words - traveller?”
by South Gloucestershire Dan, South Glos.
Tuesday, March 23 2010, 9:18PM
“Last comment went to moderation...wonder if it is all comments on this article or just key words that trigger it?”
by Reno, Bristol
Tuesday, March 23 2010, 8:24PM
“Bristol Dave and Lee, Bristol - The peoples hero's. 'We' are in the majority but none of us are in the cowardly government that allow these people to walk all over the tax payer.”
by Bristol Dave, Bristol
Tuesday, March 23 2010, 5:04PM
“Perhaps the worst bit of this article is the line which states
A further 206 were logged on the council's records, although they either have planning permission or are "tolerated" by the local authority.
Tolerated? Why on earth would the council(s) be happy to "tolerate" these feral tax-dodging thieves? I'd wager the community whose taxes support them and are then stolen from certainly aren't happy to "tolerate" them.
I'm absolutely gobsmacked that travellers are still paid for by the taxpayer. Next time you're driving up towards the mall take a look through the gates of the traveller site -specifcally the vehicles they own. They seem unable or unwilling to pay any kind of tax but yet are perfectly able to afford nearly-new vans and Pickup trucks. Gone are the days where your average traveller could only afford a battered 20 year old Transit van or converted bus, we're talking 2008/2009 -plate Nissan L200s. Look up the retail price on one of those vehicles, and then tell me we should be financially supporting these lowlife scum.”
by Jon, Outside Bristol
Tuesday, March 23 2010, 3:34PM
“"The Ferret", I can spell loser very well, thank you. Perhaps you should learn some punctuation?”
by lee, Bristol
Tuesday, March 23 2010, 3:14PM
“About time they should be kicked off straight away nobody wants dirty napies or gas bottles on the road side , Plus they should be charged council tax even if they move around too much they should at least pay Band A as standard everymonth why should they be treated any different .”
by The Ferret, London
Tuesday, March 23 2010, 1:12PM
“"Craftey Cockeny",
Jon,
People in glass houses etc. learn to spell loser.”