It is still doable to get the travellers off the school playing field site in Essington Rd by close of play Friday. That’s the message I received this morning when I checked in with Community Protection at Walsall Council

Have to say the officers have pulled out all the stops and used all the powers they have within the Government Legislation to get this matter resolved. They all recognise the anxiety that this issue is causing to many in the area.

I don’t work for Walsall Council, as your Councillor I have made sure that all the authorities dealing with this issue are well aware of your concerns. All that can be done has been done, and has been dealt with at the highest level right from when I was made aware of this late Monday afternoon.

I can fully understand the frustrations of residents and businesses in the area who just want this over as quickly as possible and don’t understand that there is a process which needs to be followed so that no loophole is left for some fancy lawyer to use in court to prolong closing down this unauthorised encampment.

It’s important now to make sure that plans are in place to ensure that once the travellers have left the site they are not just left to wonder off and set up another unauthorised encampment elsewhere in the borough. There is also a need for lessons to be learned from this experience to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

As I have already pointed out several times we would not have been in this position if Walsall had an authorised Transit site for the Gypsy, Roma Traveller community.

If one had been in place this particular group would have been directed to it. There would be proper facilities on the site for which they would have to pay a charge ahead of being allowed on the site. If they had refused, then they would have been moved on. No waiting days for a process to be gone through, no sites like Essington Rd School Playing Fields being ruined, no massive clean up bill for the local authority.

I know it’s not easy, I was the Cabinet member for Communities for 12 months between 2017 and 2018. Looking for a solution to the problem of unauthorised encampments was part of my portfolio of responsibilities. I visited sites elsewhere in other local authorities to see what they had done, what worked and what didn’t, what the pitfalls were. I spoke with travellers organisations in the Region and Nationally; I know that they too are frustrated with a minority of their community who give the rest a bad name. They would welcome an official site in Walsall and would help to make sure that it was a success.

The difficulty is and always has been just where do you put such a site? We were well into that search when we lost control of the Council in May 2018. The current administration’s cabinet member also understands the need and the benefit of such a site. His problem is probably more about getting his own colleagues to agree to it.

If anyone doubts the benefits which come with having a Transit site then take a look at this news item from Halesowen News dated 30 June 2020

https://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/18551931.travellers-moved-playing-fields-oldbury/

I have also stressed the importance of ensuring that the site is cleaned up and have been given assurances that this will indeed happen. Finally I have asked what plans are there to ensure that the site is made secure once the travellers have gone and what will be done about the damage done to the tree planting project carried out by the pupils at New Invention Junior School.