10 October 2007
Eastbourne Borough Council has put in place large stone blocks, salvaged from previous costal protection works, on the boundary of Princes Park where Travellers have previously gained access to the site. 25 caravans and several other vehicles had occupied the land on 8 September, leaving on 17 September after council officers issued a summons.
The boulders have been positioned between the end of the banked perimeter of the putting greens and the hedge on the southern boundary in an effort to prevent further illegal access to the park.
Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Spokesperson for the Environment Councillor Steve Wallis says, “Once Travellers have moved onto an unauthorised site it can be extremely time consuming, costly and frustrating in trying to remove them from these locations. With regard to the recent incident at Princes Park which involved some 50 Travellers vehicles, despite the best efforts of both the police and council officers it still took a over a week to have the Travellers removed from this site.”
Councillor Wallis concludes, “Preventing illegal encampments in the first place is the most sensible option and we hope that placing additional boulders on the perimeter of the site will deter future illegal access. We do have to accept however that with the many open spaces that the Council manages within Eastbourne this can be difficult sometimes, particularly if the Travellers are really determined to enter a site.”
