A FISHPONDS street has been cleared of caravans after council enforcement action to stop people living by the roadside.
Only cars, vans and several breakdown trucks belonging to nearby garage Westbourne Motors could be seen parked alongside Goodneston Road on February 22, five weeks after the beginning of enforcement action to remove around 30 van dwellers’ vehicles.
The council announced in January that it had reassessed Goodneston Road as a ‘high impact’ site, where action was needed due to the effect of the large encampment on the local community.
It followed more than 100 complaints since last August about fly-tipping, faeces, needles and syringes, abandoned vehicles, drug dealing and even theft of electricity from street lamps.
There had also been four arson attacks on caravans parked in the road, most recently on February 5.
Council officers started visiting the caravans and other lived-in vehicles in mid-January, giving the occupants seven days to leave or face eviction proceedings.
Around half of the caravans were moved by their owners by the end of the month.
On February 16 the council went to Bristol Magistrates Court and secured an order giving the remaining van-dwellers 48 hours’ notice to leave Goodneston Road or face removal.
By February 19 eight caravans were left but these had all gone by the weekend, including the remains of one caravan that had been burnt out (below).
Speaking as the official notices were served, the chair of the council’s public health and communities committee, Stephen Williams, said: “Due to significant issues in the area, we have concluded that the group of lived-in vehicles on Goodneston Road is seriously impacting on the local community, environment, and overall location.”
He said the enforcement action started by engaging with vehicle dwellers, conducting welfare assessments and giving advice in line with a new policy: 19 vehicle dwellers moved on voluntarily before the court hearing.
During the hearing, council solicitor Faria Jadoon said the area had been “relatively safe” before the arrival of around 34 vehicles last summer, but in the past six months alone there had been 35 police logs and 10 intelligence reports relating to antisocial behaviour, drug issues and violence.
The court heard members of the public had been attacked and injured, and human waste was left in residents’ gardens in Filwood Road and next to the caravans.
Some caravans can now be seen on nearby streets, including Filwood Road and Marshfield Road.
The council wants to move van dwellers onto temporary ‘meanwhile sites’ it is setting up with local landowners, effectively temporary caravan parks, with water and toilets.
However one van dweller who spoke to the Voice in January said she had been told it could take “four to six months” to be given a space.
Four arson attacks on caravans under investigation
Police are investigating four arson attacks on a caravans parked in Goodneston Road.
The latest happened at about 10pm on February 5, destroying a caravan parked at the roadside.
It follows earlier fires on November 13 last year, at about 5pm, on January 5 shortly after 5pm and overnight on January 26-27.
Police say that a witness saw two men arrive in the area in an “older-style brown estate” car around the time of the first incident.
Inspector Richard Jones, of the Fishponds neighbourhood policing team, said: “Detectives are investigating these incidents and believe there is a strong possibility that they may all be linked.”
Anyone with information about the incidents is being asked to call 101 and quote the crime reference number 5226 033 963.
Information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555111.