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Unauthorised traveller sites in the countryside should be illegal, CLA says

Author: FarmingUK

Published: 21st June 2018 13:03

Private Land

Unauthorised traveller sites in the countryside should be illegal, CLA says

The law should be changed to make it an offence to set up unauthorised residential developments and encampments in the countryside, according to the CLA.

The rural group told a government review looking at tackling illegal traveller sites in England and Wales that the law should be changed.

A consultation led by Housing Minister Dominic Raab is looking into the effectiveness of current enforcement against illegal sites.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said the police and local authorities are often unwilling to assist when unauthorised camps are on private land and do not use current enforcement powers effectively to remove illegal camps.

CLA Director of Policy, Christopher Price said illegal encampments in rural areas have a "detrimental economic, environmental and social impact" on local businesses and communities, as well as to the private landowner

 

"The current law is failing and it is time for a new approach," Mr Price said. "Existing powers for removal are not used frequently enough or effectively on private land to ensure swift removal."

The CLA says the problem can be tackled by making the law simpler and easier to enforce. It calls for the government to make setting up an unauthorised residential camp a criminal offence.

Mr Price added: "This would act as a deterrent to those who might consider occupying land without consent and provide greater certainty for the police to act if they understand that an offence has been committed."

Mr Price said the planning system was being undermined by the problem of unauthorised developments and called for better resources to bolster the response of planning authorities and the Planning Inspectorate.

He said: "We urgently need more funding for these woefully under-resourced departments to speed up the removal of sites and the enforcement appeals process. The current length of time taken to process enforcement appeals for unauthorised development is undermining the public's view of the planning system.

"In addition, local authorities must provide sufficient permanent or temporary residential sites for the Gypsy and Traveller community to avoid the problems that arise from unauthorised encampments," he added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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