Basingstoke’s MP Maria Miller met with Borough Council Officer Tony Manners and a police officer Geoff Scrutton to visit local traveller and ex traveller’s sites in the constituency.

 

During the visit Maria discussed how the unauthorised traveller encampments can impact the local community and whether transit sites could help to reduce this problem and provide partners with additional tools and powers to use in the removal of unauthorised encampments.

 

Maria also met with members of the Traveller community, who explained that often the choice to camp on a particular site is often determined by availability of work.

Maria said, “There has been an unacceptable 20% increase in the number of illegal traveller and gypsy encampments in Basingstoke over the past year.

If it can be clearly demonstrated that a new transit site will stop unauthorised encampments, there has to be a clear and enforceable undertaking from the traveller community that any new site would be properly used, before any tax payer money is committed.

 

Currently it takes the Borough Council two to three weeks to remove unauthorised encampments and during this time the rubbish left by travellers is unacceptable and the cost to clear up the site falls to the tax payer.  

 

The Government’s commitment to give tougher enforcement powers to police is the right way forward. At a time when money to fund many local services is under pressure, we have to be very sure that funding a new transit site would be a clear benefit to Basingstoke residents.”