News / Ashley ward
St Werburgh’s caravan dwellers told to leave
Travellers living in caravans and motorhomes on streets in St Werburghs have been served notice to leave the area by officials from Bristol City Council.
Notices were served earlier this week on 15 caravans and vehicles parked in St Werburghs Road, Minto Road and New Gatton Road, where relations between travellers and residents of neighbouring houses have been strained.
Some residents accuse the travellers of taking parking space on their road, leaving waste on the pavements and making noise late into the night.
is needed now More than ever
The council has given the owners 31 days notice to remove the vehicles from any road within the city, after which they will remove the vehicles by force and recover “reasonable expenses” from the owners.
Reaction to the news was mixed. In a Facebook group dedicated to the Ashley ward, Martyn Healer said: “Having lived here for near on 20 years it breaks my heart, always been traveller vehicles/homes here as part of the bohemian cultural landscape.
“There is no possibility to get housing [for the travellers] unless you have nearly a £1,000 in rent and deposits. Instead of evicting the weakest and most vulnerable look to the society that has created this.”
But Mary Finnigan countered: “Anyone who condones caravan/house truck dwellers in St Werburgh’s is stuck in la-la land. I used to live in Mina Road. I sold up and moved on because urban sleaze became unbearable. Feral kids rode motor bikes on narroways, they thieved, burgled and slashed tyres.
“Worst of all the crusties in their mobile homes deployed violence and intimidation against anyone who dared to challenge their anti-social behaviour.”
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