Councillor welcomes plans to tackle illegal encampments
A councillor has welcomed proposals that will criminalize illegal encampments on land.
Councillor Simon Phipps, who represents Belle Vale ward on Dudley Council, reacted to the plans discussed by the Government.
The plans, which are set to be signed off by Home Secretary Priti Patel, will make it a criminal offence to live in vehicles on land without permission and to cause distress to communities.
It comes after travellers set up illegal encampments in Whittingham Road, Halesowen, several times between 2016 to 2019.
Each encampment resulted in damage to the open space, owned by a local secondary school, costing more than £35,000 to put right.
Councillor Phipps said: "I am delighted that this long overdue change in the law will be brought forward.
"Residents not just in Belle Vale, but across the Dudley Borough have had to endure their parks and open spaces being occupied and damaged by some who feel the law doesn’t apply to them.
"That injustice led me to writing to the Home Secretary about this issue in October 2019.
"These new powers will be a game-changer for landowners across the country who would previously have to wait weeks for a court order to evict illegal encampments, even if they broke onto the property and were causing damage to it."
