Travellers vow to stay on land until legal steps taken - Worcestershire

From the Worcester News

TRAVELLERS who have moved on to land near a Worcestershire village said they would only move on when they were made to.

The group of five families and 10 caravans arrived at Kerswell Green common, owned by Kempsey Parish Council, on Friday. And despite being asked to leave, they said they would only go when they legally had to.

One of the Travellers, who refused to be named, said although they didn’t know when they would be leaving, she suspected they would be ordered to move on during the next week. “We will probably get a 24-hour notice to move in about a week,” she said. “This is our plight with the council. They won’t give us stable accommodation and they won’t let us stay on our own land.

“People say we are not wanted and we understand that, we don’t want to have to do this. We would prefer to have a site to call our own. We think we will move from the county. We will move up and down the country until we find a site. If they want this to stop they have to find more sites for us.” Chairman of Kempsey Parish Council Bob Bowley, who lives about 300 yards from the site in Kerswell Green, said he had visited the site a few times since they arrived from nearby Teal Turf in Kempsey where they spent a day.

He said: “I have been across several times. They have said to us when we get the court order we will move.” “We will be following the normal legal process to get them moved. The length of time it takes will depend on soon a judge or magistrate can attend to it. We would sometime next week.

“I haven’t had a lot of comments but the general impression is always people would prefer them not to be there. It is a common which is now used for walking or dog walking. I suppose it puts people off.

“It is always a concern what will be left but we don’t know until they go.”

The South Worcestershire Development Plan contains proposals for more Traveller sites in the Malvern Hills area.