A concerned councillor is calling for Warrington Borough Council to prioritise actions against unauthorised traveller encampments following ongoing issues at Gorse Covert.
Travellers have once again vacated an unauthorised encampment on Fisherfield Drive in Gorse Covert, Birchwood, which has been a “dreadful worry and disturbance” for many local people over the last few days.
Local Conservative Councillor for Birchwood, Nigel Balding said: “We urgently need measures to stop this happening again and I was pleased when I read that Warrington Borough Council was looking at appropriate solutions to prevent further access.”
The Leader of the Council issued a statement on Facebook to say “Yesterday I directed the installation of wooden bollards around the perimeter to prevent further encampments.”
Cllr Balding responded: “I think we have to hope that officers get on with this ASAP but it would be useful to know about the costs of the two clean-ups, the proposed bollards and the assessment of appropriate solutions as well as the other options which were considered just in case WBC has to do something more. Hopefully, these bollards are installed quickly, are effective and look OK.”
“In hindsight, it is easy to see that the Council should have put measures in place sooner and should not be taking over 10 years thinking about a transit site rather than establishing one. “Many of us have been calling for quicker solutions and it is vital for the Leader of the Council to commit to prioritise work to fix all these issues from now on.”
Court action starts to evict travellers from public land at Gorse Covert
