Officials admit powers to deal with unwanted traveller camps in Northumberland are 'not fit for purpose'

Angry residents attended a meeting of the Tynedale Local Area Community Partnership, with tempers flaring after a group of caravans camped on Tyne Green for over a month this summer.

Locals have reported horses being kept in a playpark and raced along roads, abusive behaviour from campers and large open fires even following national alerts about the dangers of wildfires.

At the meeting, representatives from the police and the council said they had done all they could in the circumstances.

Residents remained unhappy with the situation. Louise Simpson said there had been an “absolute failure” to deal with the situation and claimed residents had been “ignored” by the police and council.

Karen Bewick added: “We can argue about what did and didn’t happen – we all know what happened. My question is what are you going to do?

“What is going to be done in advance of next summer so we don’t have a repeat of this?”

Mayor of Hexham and one of the town’s county councillors Derek Kennedy added: “People have abused Tyne Green and turned it into a holiday camp. It’s not about what has happened – it’s about what is going to happen next year.

“This sounds beyond tolerance. If we’re going to have long hot summers going forward, what do we need to do to measures in place to mitigate further issues?”

Ken McDonald, Northumberland County Council’s Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Liaison Officer, explained that removing encampments who did not want to leave required a complex legal process that includes the serving of several notices to individual caravans and a Magistrates Court order that can take weeks to obtain.

He said: “There is no way of circumventing the process other than it reaching a level where the police will step in. People might not like it, but that is the process that we have.

“This is not unique to Hexham – there have been 85 to 90 encampments right across the county. It’s a growing problem across the county and the country.

“Are the powers robust enough? probably not. The level the police have to use for enforcement has been quite high.

“Northumberland County Council used the powers that were available to them. I don’t think anything else could have happened.

“We’re seeing this across the coastline from Newbiggin to Bamburgh – there are websites that tell you where to camp for free. The legislation isn’t fit for purpose.”

Neighbourhood Inspector for West Tynedale Kate Benson added: “There is lots of complex issues across this location. We received five incident reports over the eight weeks of summer.

“There was several difficulties in relation to what we can do. We work very closely with our council colleagues.

“From a police perspective, there has to be significant harm, damage or disruption for us to intervene. It’s a high threshold to take it court.

“Based on the information we ha d and the crimes we had recorded, it was recorded as low impact on the community. That threshold has to be met and it has to be proportionate.”

Insp Benson added that a multi-agency meeting was held earlier this week that devised a 10-point plan to prevent a reoccurrence next summer. The plan will be made public in the future.

She also reminded residents that local Facebook page Hexham Matters was “not a reporting system” and any issues should be reported directly to the police.

Insp Benson continued; “We can only work with the information that we have got. An allegation isn’t evidence – we need to prove beyond reasonable doubt that these have occurred.

“Sometimes our hands are tied – you’re not being ignored. We’re trying our best, but but it’s not going to happen overnight.”

Cllr John Riddle, the county council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “It’s not true to say that the county council have been inactive – but we haven’t been effective.

“There are some things that we can do for next year that will be quick wins. We need people to report things to the police. Without evidence we can’t use the proper legislation.

“This is a growing problem nationally. It isn’t going to go away.

“We need to work together to manage it. I reject the fact that the council have ignored it – we have been doing our best to try and solve it, but I accept it hasn’t been successful.”