Van encampments should not be permanent - council

Many van dwellers have parked at the Downs, causing tension with local residents

There should not be permanent encampments of people living in vans anywhere in Bristol, the council has said as it launches a consultation on its new vehicle dwellers policy.

There are more than 600 lived-in vehicles across the city, with numbers having increased by 300% since 2019. Tensions have risen between vehicle dwellers and residents on the Downs and the council said the numbers are now "unsustainable".

It is proposing people should be offered up to three months' support to find an alternative to living on the kerbside, before enforcement action is taken.

The public consultation is open for six weeks, with residents in permanent or temporary accommodation encouraged to give their views.

Barry Parsons, chair of the council's Homes and Housing Delivery Committee, said: "We don't think there should be permanent encampments anywhere in the city.

"Vehicle dweller numbers have grown in recent years, across Bristol and the whole country, and we are clear we cannot go on like this.

"Our communities, including vehicle dwellers themselves, deserve better."

The council wants to move van dwellers on to designated "Meanwhile sites"

The council said the three-month period of support will be used to encourage people to sign up for alternative living arrangements, either on a 'meanwhile site', in a council house, private rental or moving on altogether.

There is currently a waiting list for meanwhile sites, where people living in vans are provided with clean water and waste disposal for a cost of £31.50 per week.

Five sites are currently open, with another two due to open soon, which will increase the number of pitches from 66 to 99, with a target of 250 pitches before the end of March.

If someone accepts an offer of a meanwhile site pitch, but no pitches are available, the council will assess "on a case-by-case basis" whether to extend the three-month period before moving people on.

Tony Nelson founded the Protect the Downs group over concerns about anti-social behaviour, litter and the blocking of green land

Tony Nelson, from the campaign group Protect the Downs, welcomed the proposed time limit.

"Over the years the lack of enforcement has effectively invited people to Bristol," he said.

"This will disincentivise people choosing it as a lifestyle choice."

He added that the group wants see more statistics around the council's engagement with van dwellers.

"How many people have they spoken to in the past week, how many people are eligible for support, how many people aren't eligible for support," he said.

The council has been unable to answer those questions, but said it wants to offer "proactive support" to everybody through its new policy.

Flora Sidebottom said she is concerned about the new proposals

However, some people living in vehicles have expressed concern about whether welfare and safeguarding checks will be carried out adequately before enforcement action is taken.

Flora Sidebottom said while the policy changes "sound really positive" and she hopes they mark "a shift towards a more humanising approach", she remains concerned that for "genuine engagement to take place, the negative impacts of displacement and eviction also need to be brought to the forefront of the conversation".

She said the experience of eviction could be "extremely distressing, traumatic and problematic", adding that given the wider context of the housing crisis, there is "a level of validity" in living in a vehicle.

"The criminalisation of people seeking solutions creates a lack of access to safety and sanitation," she added.

More outreach workers would be needed to implement the policy, Mr Parsons said, but he was unable to say what the cost of the proposals would be.

Once responses on the public consultation have been analysed and any changes made, it is expected that a final policy will be put into effect in December.