Plans approved to prevent unauthorised Devon camps

Measures to prevent unauthorised encampments will be put in place at parks in Newton Abbot, among other places

A council is to spend more than £70,000 on a range of measures to try to stop unauthorised Gypsy and traveller encampments.

Teignbridge District Council said it had to clean up sites and repair damage following the unauthorised use of council-owned land, with eight cases requiring legal action in 2024.

A report discussed on Tuesday proposed installing boulders, barriers and a new fence at six parks across the district. The council approved all the plans to make access more difficult for unauthorised encampments.

The council said there was no transit provision for Gypsy and traveller groups at the moment in Devon and it would work with other local authorities to identify possible sites.

People currently have caravans parked up on Osborne Park in Newton Abbot

The report which was considered by the council's executive committee said unauthorised encampments created "significant demands" on resources through "the requirement to clean the site and surrounding areas, repair any damage caused and deal with complaints from residents and businesses that have been impacted".

The plans include a new rail with steel posts at Osborne Park, boulders at access points to Sandringham Park and Bakers Park, lockable bollards at Courtenay Park and Forde Park and a barrier at Dawlish Countryside Park.

The council said there were "no real alternatives" other than "to continue to reactively manage the unauthorised occupation of the parks and accept the associated costs, complaints and impacts on local residents and businesses".

However, the council also acknowledged the risk that "the measures proposed will not guarantee a stop to further unauthorised encampments at these sites" and that encampments may move to other, more accessible, council-owned land.|

About 20 members of the public attended the executive meeting which heard there had been an unprecedented number of encampments this year.