Travellers

[Della]

Travellers are in Basingstoke again. I saw some caravans when I was running in Chineham. They seemed to be parked on a field that is just wasteland and not doing any harm, though I doubt that will continue unless the council give them a bin as they would any other household in the borough.

http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/news...tion_area/
It seems the council is evicting all the travellers. OK, we don't want travellers in conservation areas parking on top of rare orchids (are dog walkers kept out of the field the rest of the year in case the dogs tread on the orchids? ), we don't want them in residential areas, so where are they supposed to go?

It might be easier for the council if they simply did not exist but the fact is that they do. Those who have lived this way of life for generations are not going to change, nor should they have to. Instead of focusing on where to evict them from, perhaps it would be better to think about where to move them to.

[alanbenjy]

Petrol bombs at the ready!

[Abaddon]

Della. A few years ago there was plans to give travellers (I wont give them the tite of Gypsy) a site near the M3J7. This was given the go ahead & the leader of the travellers basically said "F U We're not being told where we can & cant stay".
They had the chance of a "permanent" ground where they could put down for whenever the wanted, as long as they told the police & council they were there.
This was not enough for them

I for one DO understand the wish to be able to just up-roots & move, without having to tell the authorities where I was & where I'm going. However those days have gone past many years ago.
Is this a good thing? I don’t know.
Can it be changed? I doubt it.
Can the travellers help themselves by complying with the basic societal laws? YES.

[Tenzin]

(23-04-2009 11:28 PM)Della Wrote:  Travellers are in Basingstoke again. I saw some caravans when I was running in Chineham. They seemed to be parked on a field that is just wasteland and not doing any harm, though I doubt that will continue unless the council give them a bin as they would any other household in the borough.

http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/news...tion_area/
It seems the council is evicting all the travellers. OK, we don't want travellers in conservation areas parking on top of rare orchids (are dog walkers kept out of the field the rest of the year in case the dogs tread on the orchids? ), we don't want them in residential areas, so where are they supposed to go?

It might be easier for the council if they simply did not exist but the fact is that they do. Those who have lived this way of life for generations are not going to change, nor should they have to. Instead of focusing on where to evict them from, perhaps it would be better to think about where to move them to.

agree with what you have said Della but get ready for the crypto-fascists daily mail reading taxpayers alliance petit-bourgeois little england types coming up with the old chestnuts as this has been ‘discussed’ on here a few times before.

people get ridiculed mocked and abused for thinking out of the box as has been witnessed in here, so don't dare to live out of the ‘ticky tacky little boxes’ lifestyle

a country that allows difference and alternative lifestyles is one to be proud off any ideas where i can go because this is fast becoming a country that will not tolerate decent.

[Chester]

There again there are people like me that respect other peoples' way of life and belief but I don't see why I have to pay for their lifestyle and disregard for the rules that society have developed.

I haven't got a problem if they want to travel up and down the country doing their own thing. But when they leave a trail of destruction and petty crime then that has nothing to do with the right to travel and everything to do with disregard of the rights of the others.

[basingstokeroyal]

(24-04-2009 08:12 AM)Chester Wrote:  But when they leave a trail of destruction and petty crime then that has nothing to do with the right to travel and everything to do with disregard of the rights of the others.

Until this problem gets resolved - travellers will never be welcome.

I have never seen a tidy travellers camp. I have always heard of abuse etc towards good citizens when travellers are in town. I always hear of doorstep thefts, and folk being ripped off when travellers in town.

Oh and in my case my car being taken off my driveway stolen - by someone from the travelling community - FACT.

Do I welcome them - no!!

[non-stick]

If the ones in chineham are the ones I'm thinking of they leave a load of mess each time they leave. The council does give them bags but it's difficult to put the rubbish from drive-laying, tree-felling and car-breaking into small plastic sacks so this gets chucked into the bushes.

When I worked in Wokingham they regularly packed up near us nicking anything that wasn't tied down and used the path behind the office as a toilet!! We used to catch their kids breaking into the allotment sheds behind us and they even nicked the lightbuilbs from the safety bollards round the car parks.

I have no problem with their choice of lifestyle but dont expect others to clean up the crap they leave behind.

As for the orchids - I suspect they can cope quite happily with the odd paw print and it's relatively easy to put some form of protection to keep dogs off anyway. A bleeding great caravan is a lot less picky about where it gets driven.

I have also had the "pleasure" of dealing with a sizeable number in a a previous incarnation working for one of the benefit paying agencies - a lot of them are huge way from the romantic image of the loveable wanderers some seem to to see them as.

[alanbenjy]

Lets get a vigilante group up and burn them at the stake! they wont come back

[seamatt]

I think there is a huge difference between gypsies and travellers.

Those that pitch up with their 4x4 pick-ups knocking on doors offering garden services, upvc cladding and any other house maintenance service are a million miles away fro the traditional gypsy. Travellers do take advantage of our community, their reputation is there for a reason, they are often involved in crime, (a group that used visit Basingstoke regularly have not been seen for a number of years mainly because a large proportion of the group were jailed for theft and burglary) they do damage the area they set up camp in, they leave a disgusting mess behind that has to be cleaned up at our expense. They do try and flog second rate services, tree cutting, drive resurfacing etc...

I don't think I could be described as a "crypto-fascists daily mail reading taxpayers alliance petit-bourgeois little england type", my comments come from experience, Travellers cause real problems for those in the neighbourhood to where they set up.

They take advantage of local services, I have to pay for water, they just take it....

Della's comment that the council should find a place for them to stay is valid but at whose expense, our or theirs?

But you should keep in mind that there used to be an area where they could stay by the M3 as Ababbon said, but from what I remember they destroyed it and it was never repaired to a state where it could be used again.

I think the best way to deal with them is to not give them work. If they don’t get work they have no reason to stay.

[jonclox]

(25-04-2009 09:26 AM)seamatt Wrote:  I think the best way to deal with them is to not give them work. If they don’t get work they have no reason to stay.

I agree with everything Seamatt has said before this sentence but unfortunatly I feel that this comment can only lead them into more stealing etc.
The only 'cure' is to move them on