Broxden Traveller dispute over as camp moves on - Perthshire

From the Perthshire Advertiser

Concrete blocks are due to arrive today near Perth’s Broxden roundabout in an attempt to make it harder for Traveller camps to be set up.

After ignoring a notice to quit from Perth and Kinross Council for over a week, a Traveller convoy that had been staying on the vacant land left the site overnight on Tuesday.

Liberal Democrat and Perth City South councillor Willie Wilson expressed his relief that the “unauthorised occupation” had ended without incident or police involvement.

Last week Cllr Wilson reported that his “phone had been red hot” with angry constituents who wanted the uninvited visitors to move on.

In a move that some will view as “acting after the horse has bolted” repairs to the fence surrounding the land at Broxden were ordered by Perth and Kinross Council and concrete blocks are to be brought in to prevent Travellers gaining access to the business land if they return in future.

Cllr Wilson visited the land at Lamberkine Drive on Wednesday morning and said that he would be informing the council that he’d seen evidence of human waste next to office property and “despite reassurances to the contrary, the site was strewn with litter”.

He told the PA that he, along with local residents, were determined that a repeat experience would not happen.

“Some of the local Oakbank residents have replaced the barriers across the entrance as best they can, but I would recommend that a gate is supplied and fitted to the site and welded to the hinge,” he said yesterday.

“I would also strongly support the placing of concrete blocks as a barrier to vehicles on the two small cul-de-sacs off Tweed Place.”

The Traveller presence in Perth last week has prompted Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser to highlight what he sees as flaws in current Gypsy/Traveller strategies.

Yesterday in the Scottish Parliament Murdo Fraser told members that he believed that the unauthorised encampment of Travellers at the Broxden Business Park in Perth was brought about by a lack of suitable official Gypsy/Traveller sites.

Mr Fraser declared: “Anti-social behaviour cannot be tolerated regardless of the mitigating factors.

“The case at the Broxden Business Park highlights the friction caused by illegal Gypsy/Traveller encampments and the permanently settled communities in which they base themselves.

“Settled communities must have the backing of the police and the local authority when dealing with the effects and after-effects of illegal Gypsy/Traveller settlements.”

He warned that local authorities must look at providing more suitable sites for Travellers or face more incidents like the one at Broxden.

He appealed for Perth and Kinross council to support the local community around Broxden to prevent a return of Travellers to the illegal site.