MPs urged to take Walsall traveller plight to parliament

Councillor Ian Shires, Walsall Council's cabinet member for communities, says the authority has 'exhausted' all of its powers to deal with the problem.

It comes as a new traveller encampment pitched up in the town centre. Seven caravans and other vehicles turned up at a council-owned car park on Wolverhampton Street, Willenhall, yesterday.

Officers from the councils community protection team have attended the car park and the formal legal process for removal has been started.

Several illegal traveller camps have appeared across the borough in recent weeks, including in Bloxwich, Short Heath, Harden Road, Swannies Field and Aldridge Airport.

Councillor Shires said: "We have just had notification of another unauthorised encampment, this time it’s on council land in Wolverhampton Street, Willenhall.

"Currently there are seven caravans with a number of associated vehicles on the site.

“Walsall Council has virtually exhausted all its powers under the current Government Legislation.

"It may be possible to shave a little more time off the process, if we had a transit site, something that all previous administrations have shied away from.

“The cabinet is actively seeking suitable land to set up a transit site and at a meeting of the West Midlands Combined Authority on Tuesday I spoke on the issue as a regional problem.

“What would be good right now would be if Walsall’s three MP’s were to raise the matter in Parliament.

"This is not just a Walsall problem. It is not just a West Midlands problem.

"It is a national problem and requires a review of the effectiveness of the the current legislation.”

Council leader Sean Coughlan, who represents the Willenhall South ward where the latest encampment has appeared, said the authority would put pressure on MPs to raise the issue in Parliament.

He said: "I am in full support of the idea that our MPs need to raise this issue in Parliament.

"Councils need more help to deal with this issue and I would hope that our MPs can support us and raise this problem in the hope of getting something done."

The call comes weeks after MP Eddie Hughes slammed the authority's ability to deal with travellers, accusing the authority of 'pushing them from one place to another'.

Speaking to the Express & Star at the end of August, Mr Hughes said that there is no long-term plan from the political leadership as they 'blunder around chasing the travellers all over the borough and running up huge bills'.