From the Bucks Herald
A Christian festival for Gypsies has been slammed after reports of car crashes, public urination and trespassing.
Hundreds of Gypsies and 200 vehicles have moved onto Riverside Farm in Pitchcott for the annual Light and Life Festival, despite a High Court injunction preventing the land being used for campsites.
The 2008 order came after more than a decade of problems at the farm, according to Aylesbury Vale District Council, which is now planning to take legal action against the landowner Errol Clarke.
But Mr Clarke denies giving the group permission to use his land and claims he turned up to the field on Saturday to find hundreds of caravans parked on site.
Since the group moved onto the farm on Friday, police have reported antisocial behaviour, trespassing and speeding. On Wednesday afternoon a driver suffered serious injuries and an air ambulance had to be called out to a one-car accident being linked to the site.
Inspector Emma Garside from Thames Valley Police said that while festival goers are ‘being compliant’ with her officers, the event – which was held in Iver last year – is still affecting the surrounding villages.
“It’s obviously a concern for the local community and the impact of such a festival is being felt quite widely,” she said.
“But this isn’t an illegal encampment. The group is there with the permission of the land owner – if anyone is to blame it’s him.
“The problem is, people saw all these caravans arriving in a quiet, small village and it came as quite a shock. There’s around 500-600 people on the site, with 200 vehicles and a lot of visitors each day. The majority of the people on site are there for a religious festival and are completely engaging with police.”
Insp Garside added that police patrols in the area have been stepped up, to ‘prevent problems and make people feel secure’.
Organiser of the event, Billy Smith, who pastors a Gypsy church in Dunstable, says the sole aim of the group is to reach into the Gypsy and Traveller community, spreading the word of the Bible.
“People can take from that what they want to. You can’t get everybody to be on your side,” he said.
“We’ve got permission, we’ve hired the land and we’ve organised it all in the correct manner. Anyone outside the community who wishes to pass judgment needs to come down here and see for themselves –they would be more than welcome.
“I can’t control every man and woman on this site – we’re just trying to make a difference in the community.”
But some nearby residents remain fearful and while the festival is due to end on Friday, there are concerns the group may not vacate the site.
One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: “We’ve all been extremely concerned. Since they moved in the place is full of rumour.”
Aylesbury Vale District Council’s head of planning, Andrew Blythe, said the authority intends on pursuing landowner Mr Clarke for breaking the injunction and that the council is ‘doing its utmost to work alongside the police in this matter’.
Ward councillor Sue Polhill said: “This site has a history of breaches of planning control.
“This latest flagrant breach of the court order cannot be tolerated and we are starting legal proceedings to enforce the terms of the injunction.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.