Residents demand ‘Gypsies’ move on - Somerset

RESIDENTS have threatened to stop paying their council tax unless North Somerset Council clears a ‘Gypsy’ site, four years after they first complained.

The drastic measure was suggested at a recent Cleeve Parish Council meeting because it was felt it would force the council to act.
A woman moved onto the Cleeve Hill Road site in 2007 with a van and a horsebox and was joined by a man in the summer, prompting residents to yet again voice their frustrations.
An enforcement notice was issued on the woman two years ago but due to difficulties over who owned the land and where she would be moved to, nothing was ever carried out.
One retired resident in his 70s, who asked to remain anonymous for his own safety, said enough was enough and called on something to be done.
He said: “It doesn’t appear to residents that North Somerset Council has given its full commitment and weight to make the people move.
“If we put a foot wrong the police are on us right away. Most of us pay a lot of council tax and it gets up our noses that she gets all the collections and yet she contributes nothing to it.”
He said there is a public bin on the site which the council collect.