EXCLUSIVE: ILLEGAL TRAVELLERS CAMP COST RICHMOND COUNCIL £60.000
Richmond Council picked up massive £59.723.88 bill to deal with and clean up the recent traveller camps in Ham, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
Teddington Town asked the Borough: Can you give some estimate of the cost and working hours this takes up?
In a response today (tuesday) the Council stated: “The cost to the council for the two recent unauthorised encampments are £59,723.88. Manager and Officers time approx. 86 hours for both as it spanned over two weeks.”
The group of Travellers first arrived on Ham Common in the evening of Friday 26 July after which welfare checks and the legal process to move them on began.
The Council issued court proceedings on Monday 29 July and successfully obtained an order and writ of possession to legally move the group from the Common on Thursday 1 August.
The group then went to the nearby YMCA Hawker Centre which is in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames also causing significant damage and mess, which forced the Centre to close down for several days.
As King George’s Field is a different site to Ham Common, the Council had to go back to court to obtain a new possession order for this individual site.
The Council says: “We have contractors removing litter twice daily from the site and surrounding areas.
“After they leave, we will ensure all waste is removed and any damage is repaired. We are also regularly in contact with the Police to ensure they are monitoring the site for anti-social behaviour (ASB) and illegal activity.
“We encourage residents to report any ASB or illegal activity to the police.”
The Council revealed it is looking at a permanent solution to stop future encampments.
It said: “With the assistance of our Legal Service (SLLP), we are working towards the application of a permanent injunction for sites where we have had unauthorised encampments over the past three years, this needs to be robustly evidenced.
“This is a lengthy process, and it is not guaranteed it will be granted by the court. ”
