Travellers pitch up caravans in Birmingham parks near playground and school as council battle against illegal encampments continues

Daily Mail​

28-04-2025

Travellers have descended on two Birmingham park's over the weekend.
Around 17 caravans and other vehicles have parked up at Parkdale Park, just off Longbridge Lane in West Heath, near Longbridge.
The temporary camp surrounds a basketball court and is yards from Albert Bradbeer Primary School.
Neighbours said the group arrived at the end of the Easter holidays.
The convoy was not as big as last year when travellers were pictured at the same site last June.
Up to 30 caravans and vehicles were spotted at the park for a number of days.
Another group of travellers have also set up a camp in one of the city's best-loved parks.
Around a dozen caravans and cars were on fields near the play area at the historic Kings Heath Park.
The park, which covers 35 acres, features a house dating back to 1832, conservatory and a refurbished pool area as well as a tea room, bowling green, plant nursery and two playgrounds.
The large convoy of vehicles was said to have driven onto the land over the weekend.
The council said there were alternative sites for travellers in the city.
A spokesman said: 'Birmingham City Council is committed to actively protecting its land and will take steps to recover this land where unauthorised encampments encroach upon it.
'The council has useable transit sites and plots for use by the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community - which is in line with Government policy.
'Details of the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment carried out and updated in 2019 can be found on our website.'
Last month, dozens of vehicles and trailers parked-up on playing fields at nearby Swanshurst Park, in Birmingham just weeks after their last visit - prompting a local group to warn people to stay away.
Friends of Swanshurst Park, a volunteer group with an interest in caring and advocating for the park, often tend to a wildflower meadow in the area.
It said after the vehicles turned up at the end of March: 'We think it best if members of the public do not put themselves in a position in which they feel uncomfortable by working on the wildflower patch while the travellers are in close proximity.
'The notice will be served as soon as possible for them to leave but realistically, they will not be gone before the end of the week.'
The travellers also occupied the park in May and October last year forcing the council to step in again to remove them.
The council said it would liaise with communities and businesses who may be impacted by plans to introduce up to 15 temporary sites for travellers.
A pilot programme, set to begin in the summer, could see 'negotiated stopping' sites made available and would involve unused pieces of land.
They typically provide hard standing for holding caravans, a secure boundary and basic sanitary provision, while some also provide electricity.
But due to factors such as repeated vandalism and unauthorised encampments, the council's two operational transit sites have often been closed.
This comes as the number of 'illegal' traveller sites being set up across the UK is on the rise with local councils increasingly unable to remove them, a planning enforcement officer has claimed.
New planning policy announced by Labour housing secretary Angela Rayner in December will force councils to release green belt land for travellers to create permanent encampments if there is an 'unmet need'.