A group of travellers have set up camp in a Hale park – and are hoping to stay as long as they can.
A large fleet of vehicles, including at least 16 caravans, arrived at Grove Park Playing Fields off Thorley Lane at around 9pm on Friday night.
Neighbouring residents have expressed concern over the travellers’ arrival, which according to one local is the first time travellers have camped on the council-owned land since the 1980s.
One of the travellers, a 29-year-old father of five who did not want to be named, told Altrincham Today that they hoped to be able to stay for at least “one to two weeks” while an eviction procedure was processed by the council.
But he said they had already identified their next stop – on another patch of land in Hale “a stone’s throw” from their current position.
Below: Some of the travellers on the Grove Park Playing Fields
He said: “We came here because it’s nice, and being able to feel the grass between your toes in the morning is a nice way to live.
“The local residents have got nothing to worry about – we’re not causing any trouble and actually crime rates go down wherever we are.”
The man, who said he had been a traveller all his life and all the other people in the field were his friends who travelled everywhere together, said they had previously stopped in Stoke.
He added: “We’ll stay as long as we can but we’ve found somewhere else to go next that’s only a stone’s throw from here.” He refused to confirm exactly where.
One local resident told us she could remember the last time travellers had camped on the field, over 25 years ago, describing it as “horrendous”. “You have never seen such a mess after they had gone,” she said, “and one woman even had a baby in the field.”
Below: The damaged fence being used as an entrance by vehicles on the land
She said she hoped the travellers would move on, adding: “I don’t really want them hanging around.” Another said he had called the police on Friday night and that a police van had briefly attended the site.
Another local resident said that the travellers had damaged a fence in order to drive their vehicles on to the field, but the traveller we spoke to denied this.
The trespass on the land is not by itself a criminal offence, and the removal of trespassers is the responsibility of the landowner – in this case Trafford Council. The police will only get involved if there are any offences committed on the site.
Below: The travellers’ camp on Grove Park Playing Fields
The council cannot however simply remove the travellers from their land, and must follow a set and fairly lengthy procedure in order to enable them to gain a court order.
Guidance on its website says: “If the Gypsies/Travellers are causing problems they will be moved on as soon as is possible and reasonable. The Council will consider each case on its merits. In all cases the site is visited and every effort made to make sure that the Gypsies/Travellers keep the site tidy and do not cause public health problems.”
A court would allow the travellers to stay if there was an unavoidable reason for them to be on the land, or if the council had “failed to make adequate enquiries regarding the general health and welfare of the Gypsies/Travellers”.
The guidance added that the length of time before removal would “depend upon the circumstances of each individual case”.
