Residents shocked over van-dweller site plans

Residents living near an area currently occupied by travellers without authorisation say they are shocked by council plans to turn it into a semi-permanent camp.

Bristol City Council has submitted plans to use the space off Lanercost Road in Southmead as a so-called meanwhile site for some of the estimated 600 people living in vans in the city.

"We've been campaigning to remove them for the last year and now the council are saying we're going to make it official now," said Ronda Golding.

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: "Plans have been submitted to turn this area of land into an authorised meanwhile site, with occupants signing a licence and agreeing to the rules of the site."

The council confirmed that the traveller group currently living there would be evicted before other van-dwellers moved in.

But neighbours of the site told the BBC they assumed this meant it would not be used by caravans in the future.

Golding said a letter arrived over Christmas stating the site was to be a meanwhile site with up to 21 pitches.

"They've given us a crock of lies," she added.

"The gates are opening all through the morning, we're getting rubbish and the smell of the toilets.

"One minute it's an illegal encampment, the next minute it's going to be legal," she said.

Another resident, Kevan Hill, said the site was too close to a new housing estate and a community centre for vulnerable adults.

"We've had less than a week to object, there are plenty more brownfield sites they can use, why don't they use that?

"We were told there would be money set aside for a recreation area for new houses [next door], but nothing was built."

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: "The group occupying the land at Lanercost Road have been part of an unauthorised encampment for some time.

"The Gypsy Roma Traveller team has met with the group on a number of occasions to carry out welfare checks and discuss alternative options. 

"We are in the process of preparing a case to be heard in court, and we hope to be granted a possession order for the land."

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