When the traveller community's way of life clashes with their legal rights and the views of local residents, who should compromise?

Sean Delaney takes a look at the issues facing police and councils when clamping down on unauthorised traveller encampments.

Every summer thousands of caravans pitch up without warning on various parks, grass verges and other green spaces throughout Kent.

It forms part of a nomadic tradition – protected under human rights law –dating back centuries in which members of the Gypsy, Romany and Traveller community observe a life spent largely on the road.

But their presence – when not on one of the county's designated but dwindling sites – often prompts an angry backlash from residents.

Earlier this month police received more than 20 calls regarding problems of vandalism, noise and dog-on-dog fighting at an unauthorised encampment in Hoo.

And yet, the majority of this already marginalised community who do not engage in such anti-social behaviour point out the prejudices they face when trying to peacefully co-exist amid a national shortage of approved stopping sites and facilities.

What action can be taken to evict unuauthorised encampments?

The law on trespass on private land is clear: If travellers are camped without the landowner’s permission it is their responsibility to prevent it and evict them.

This can be done by asking them to leave and by starting court proceedings.

However, when it comes to council-owned land local authorities must make and carry out appropriate decisions over whether to move caravan-dwellers on and allocate resources accordingly.

This process usually takes between two and five working days and the council has several legal hoops it must jump through including welfare assessments on-site, including when children attending local schools are involved.

Once checks are complete, a final decision is made and if appropriate to evict a site a specified time and date will be given.

If those encamped still do not move on the council will instruct bailiffs to enforce the notice. They will use any reasonable means to do so including towing vehicles from the site if necessary.

It's a notoriously slow process which can often produce a "whack-a-mole" effect in which one camp closes, only to open up again days later at another location, at great cost to all parties involved.

'Woke' police taking back control? Or erasing a way of life?

One of the common frustrations shared by the public is the perception police are not doing enough or are being slow to react.

Often officers will be called to attend alongside the local authority. They will then investigate any criminal offences alleged to have been committed in gaining access to the space and any ongoing criminal activity.

If the police cannot use their powers to move the group on, the council will start the process to arrange their removal.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which came into force at the end of June, grants law enforcement new powers to tackle illegal pitches.

Full use includes the ability to seize vehicles and arrest people where there is evidence of "significant damage, disruption or distress".

Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott, who supported the legislation, said: "There was a sense of frustration before this was introduced that when there was an illegal encampment taking place, particularly in a local community facility, that the public authorities were not acting quickly enough to clear it away.

"This would lead to concerns around fly-tipping, littering, as well as the lack of access to community facilities such as parks and leisure centres.

"The process itself was quite slow and the landowner had to go to court to get certain orders in place."

He believes the new law will address accusations the police have gone "woke" on the issue of unauthorised traveller encampments. The term 'woke' is often used to describe people alert to racial prejudice or social injustice.

"Sometimes people raise concerns about police interaction in some of these communities and that they have gone 'woke' and won't interact with them, but it's not true here," Mr Scott explained.

"Police will go onto a site and deal with anybody. That's the role police play here in Kent. They do so without fear or favour, they police everybody.

"We shouldn't have any tolerance of that [anti-social behaviour] as it generates cost to the taxpayer in terms of clean-up and removes the ability of families to use community facilities."

Mr Scott hastened to draw a distinction between unauthorised and legitimate pitches.

"We do have to separate the two because the people on fixed sites are not causing the same problems as those breaking onto other people's land," the police chief added.

Guidance on the new law has been issued by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC).

When made aware of trespassing it says forces should assess each case on its own merits and gather evidence of what appropriate action should be taken.

Police should consider the potential impact any enforcement action may have on the families involved.

Where there are no authorised sites, and the authority reaches the view that the incident is not causing a level of "damage, disruption or distress" which cannot be effectively controlled, it should consider providing toilets, a refuse skip and drinking water at that site.

Mr Scott has asked Kent Police to draw up its own guidance on use of the new police powers when the "threshold is met".

Asked whether he had spoken directly to members of the GRT community affected, he responded: "I have had no feedback from them on this.

"No doubt I will get feedback from both sides when the police start to implement their plan around it."

What do Irish Travellers think about the new law?

The new anti-trespass law has come under fire from human rights groups who claim it will "criminalise the Traveller way of life".

Kent-based Irish traveller Martin Ward, 30, says it will feel "like prison" for his family who will struggle to adjust if they are turfed out of transit.

The YouTube and TikTok performer regularly splits his time between Northfleet and Manchester where his family members, including X Factor winner Shayne Ward and bare knuckle boxer Paddy Doherty, live.

He claims there is a huge shortage of sites up and down the country and councils lack funding to build new ones.

"Why don't they build more sites and give us a skip and a toilet?" he said. "The problem we have is the government won't give the budget.

"It's the money, it needs to be spoken about. If they don't give it to local authorities, they can't build the sites."

Martin, who has opened up on his experiences as an openly gay Irish traveller, attended Glastonbury Festival with LGBT+ group Traveller Pride in June to protest the new law.

He also recently met with Gravesham MP Adam Holloway to discuss his community's concerns.

But Martin says while there is an acknowledgement of the issues over site access he disputes claims travellers are responsible for much of the widespread vandalism and littering in country parks, attributing this to "fake travellers".

The Irish traveller says he wants to change the narrative around his community and blames harmful stereotypes, often perpetuated in the media and on shows like Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, for their poor reputation.

"People have got to understand, how can you judge one community and paint it with one brush?" he said. "There is good and bad in every walk of life.

"We have got to come to a balance here. I'm an Irish gay traveller but if I met a bad English man I would not look at the rest of his community and say they were all bad, it would never come across my mind."

He added: "Everyone has got a story to tell. One day we are going to turn it around."

So what's the solution?

Statistics show that the number of authorised traveller pitches had increased by 41% from January 2010 to January 2020.

The government says it is continuing its work to provide even more authorised sites for travellers to reside upon and has set aside £10 million of capital grant funding for 2022/2023, to support local authorities in England in doing so.

The NPCC has stated for some years that the key issue to address on a national level is the lack of appropriate accommodation.

The shortage of suitable sites for families to live on and access as they move around the country often creates the biggest single source of conflict between the travelling and settled communities.

It also encourages closer working between the police, local authorities and other public sector partners involved.

Progress has been made – albeit slowly – but if the issue is going to be resolved it will need the political will of government and local authorities.

Whether the allocation of further much-needed funding will be forthcoming in these tough times remains to be seen.