Graham reports back from Friends of Scholes Park meeting
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by Lib Dem team on 4 August, 2017
Travellers accessed Brookfield Park on Friday morning, cutting through a padlock on a gate to gain access.
Around ten caravans moved onto the site and the local councillors were in touch with the council during the day.
The latest information we have is that, because access was gained illegally, the Police can issue a Section 61 notice to evict. This is substantially quicker that the alternative process the council would have to follow.
Hopefully the section 61 will be actioned soon and the travellers moved on.
7 Comments
And they could arrest them for breaking and entering? Response is too soft once again that’s why they keep doing it
I doubt it somehow. The side gate to my property (secured with a double-locking padlock), was recently forced off its hinges by drainage contractors (UKDN Drainage (Waterflow) Ltd, wanting access to a drain on my property whilst I was out. I arrived home to find the padlock still locked on the gate, and the gate wide open. I thought I’d been broken into. I reported it to the police (101) and was phoned back by an officer from Hazel Grove who told me it was ‘not a matter for the police’, and that in an ‘ideal world’ the company would have sought my permission before coming onto my property and forcing my side gate open. I couldn’t believe my ears. I would have thought that the incident constituted breaking and entering, and was very much a matter for the police but apparently not!
Misty
You don’t mention why UKDN Drainage needed access to your property but you’d probably be surprised at the number of public bodies (and companies contracted to them) who have a legal right of entrance to your property, including forcing an entry if they deem it necessary.
In an emergency yes I think that’s understandable and acceptable, and I would not obeject to that.
But in the case I’ve cited there was no emergency; it was routine dye testing only to track drainage. I was in when the company arrived in the area, and for several hours after, and could have been asked about access to my drains. Instead the company waited until I went out, in fact saw me go out, and then came onto my property and forced my gate open. The irony was that had they spoken to me at the outset I could have told them that there was no shared drainage, saving them the trouble of forcing my gate, and myself the stress of thinking I’d been broken into!
Ah. In that case, I agree with you – completely unacceptable.
Back to the main point , it was Thursday night when they broke into the park . Police were called ,after a short standoff with myself and the travellers,the police arrived telling me it would be better to leave it , and short of waving them in, stood back and let it happen , telling me to report anything I was worried about !! . Now it’s nearly a week since then , the park is getting covered in all sorts of rubbish, I don’tfeel the need to go any further. The gate is still wide open , is there anybody keeping an eye on the situation? , is anyone taking it seriously? . Why can’t charges be brought against them, if I took rubbish across the road , I would be find for fly tipping ( and rightly so) . Why is it when anything like this happens we feel helpless to defend our area , why can’t the council take steps to ensure it can’t happen again ? I can remember when this country had a spine , I’ve got a long memory, thoughts please.
Don’t hold your breath?