Test Valley Borough Council’s unauthorised traveller encampments injunction renewed by High Court
I was at the High Court in London last month to listen to our successful application to renew Test Valley Borough Council’s unauthorised encampments injunction against ‘persons unknown’ for a further 12 months.
Considering some of the press articles I’ve read recently, it seems that we are now well and truly into traveller season. Thankfully, we haven’t seen any unauthorised encampments in Test Valley so far this year – helped in part by our injunction*.
In fact, since this time last year, we have only had two breaches in the injunction area. One on the 24th of June 2024, where 4 caravans broke onto the cricket pitch at Romsey Rapids, and another on the 24th of August 2024, where several caravans gained access to some green space in Augusta Park in Andover. In both cases, the police threatened to arrest the perpetrators if they didn’t quickly vacate the site, and the encampments packed up and moved on the same day.
Compare this to the two years immediately prior to our interim order, where in 2018 we had 38 unauthorised encampments and in 2019 we had 40. The vast majority of which included some form of fly-tipping, the dumping of human waste, damage, nuisance, animal cruelty, or intimidating or anti-social behaviour, with every single encampment occupying land where they didn’t have permission to be**. Back then, we had to wait up to a week to obtain a court order to move them on, and on some occasions, they would just drive down the road to a different location, and we would have to start the process all over again.
It’s clear, therefore, that the hard work to get our injunction in place is paying off. However, although our final injunction obtained in May 2024 included a five-year order against ‘persons known’, we only had a one-year order against ‘persons unknown’ (the maximum allowable). So, needed to renew it.
I’m delighted to report that we got the result we were hoping for in that renewal process. During her judgment, Her Honour Judge Richardson said the current order has been extremely effective in preventing not just the number of unauthorised encampments, but also the length of their stay and the reduction in clean-up costs.
I’m clear that unauthorised traveller encampments won’t be tolerated in Test Valley, and I hope our successful injunction order will continue to act as a deterrent along with all the other work we have done to better protect our open spaces.
My huge thanks to officers across the council and the police who have worked tirelessly over many years to gather and present the evidence to support our case. Their efforts are much appreciated.
*The order covers 17 square miles of Test Valley, including all of Andover as well as the Alma Road car park in Romsey, Romsey Rapids, and the Nursling and Rownhams Hall and Recreation Ground. All areas that have seen significant problems over many years.
**We do, of course, have a negotiated stopping policy which those who wish to stop as they pass through Test Valley can apply for in advance, by completing an application form and adhering to agreed behaviours.
Cllr. Phil North
Leader of the Test Valley Borough Council
