Questions submitted by Members under Procedure Rule No.9 will be published by way of supplement following closure of the deadline. – RECEIVED QUESTIONS NOW ATTACHED.

The Chairman advised the meeting that one question pursuant to Council Procedure Rule No.9 had been submitted to the meeting.  This had been circulated to all Members, separately to the agenda, and published on the website.

The Chairman invited, Councillor John McNeill, Ward Member for Market Rasen, to put his question to the Leader as follows:-

"Leader, you are no doubt aware of the 16 caravans and motor homes and other associated vehicles which occupied a Council car park from the evening of 14th July 2022 overnight and thereafter.  Please can you confirm the details of the incident and any other similar activity this summer of which the Council is aware?  I understand that a similar incident occurred on the Village Green in Welton and I personally saw caravans parked along the A631 at Glentham and Bishop Bridge a few days later.

Does the Leader agree, that Council Officers handled the situation professionally and brought about a swift resolution to the matter?  What assessment, if any, has been made of the impact of the incident on Gainsborough?

Can the Leader provide any additional assurance for our local communities arising from any lessons learnt during the recent incident?  Is the Leader able to comment on whether any fines were issued, and if so, have any of the fines been paid?

Thank you”

The Leader of the Council responded as follows : -

“It is believed that Officers acted swiftly, professionally and in a co-ordinated manner regarding both of the encampments that occurred in Gainsborough.  The Council provided a proportionate response within the agreed Protocol, resulting in a swift resolution. Our communications team were fully briefed and managed any media enquiries.

Whilst it is recognised that incidents such as this cause concern for the local community, there will always be a likelihood of them occurring, hence why there are specific laws and guidance in place to enable the Council to deal with them and to provide those occupying land with the relevant protections and rights.

In these circumstances, we have an agreed Countywide Protocol with the Police to follow, which starts by understanding what the intentions of the occupants are, in regards to the length of their stay. If it is a short period, then their presence in most cases will be tolerated until they move on. If we get the sense that it will be a longer stay or that the stay may cause significant community harm then we start legal proceedings to cease the occupation of the land liaise with the Police to determine the best way to go about this. Our approach in most cases is always to get the ball rolling on legal action should their suggested intentions change.

After a major encampment occurs, officers complete a review of the incident as part of the Gypsy and Traveller Joint Protocol. This enables the Council to ensure it is meeting its obligations in regards to the Joint Protocol for Gypsy and Traveller Encampments and will consider the Gainsborough incidents that occurred between 14/7/22 - 18/7/22 and 20/07/22 - 23/07/2022.

The Protocol seeks to ensure that agencies work together and seek to find a peaceful resolution with the occupants of unauthorised encampments. It is always preferable to seek a short, peaceful and tolerated stay as opposed to creating conflict and heightening local tensions. There are no immediate powers to remove occupants from land in these situations, unless there is a serious risk to public safety.

In this instance there was no significant risk to public safety and the car park on Bridge Street is monitored by CCTV and is very prominent, and this enabled agencies to ensure that minimal disruption was caused. Whilst there has been media attention in regards to the new ‘Police, Crime, Sentencing and Court Act 2022’, the powers cited within here have incorrectly been headlined as a means to instantly remove any travellers from land, which isn’t the case. They are police only powers and there has to be, or likely to be “significant damage, disruption or distress”- which there clearly wasn’t on either occasion in relation to the Bridge Street encampments.

During both of the Gainsborough incidents the relevant Members, Management Team and Communications Teams were kept fully updated via email with the situation and any changes. In both instances, the required assessment of the site and those occupying it was carried out at the earliest opportunity and the formal notices were served within 24 hours of the land being occupied and provisions were in place to commence formal legal proceedings in the working week following on from the initial occupation. Arrangements were also made for waste collection and to advise local licensed and retail premises of the presence of the encampment. A Police incident was also opened and kept active were there to be any further concerns or complaints from the public. There were very minimal complaints from the public during the period of both occupations.

In terms of fines, there is no provision to issue a fine to occupants for simply occupying land. The provisions of the Act enable a prosecution should the occupants return within 12 months, subject to their being sufficient evidence. There clearly was scope for issuing fines for car parking offences, however this was not deemed to be something that would have best served the aim of a quick departure and would have only served to increase the tensions between agencies. Alongside this, there would have been very little scope for recovering any fines issued based on the information that was obtained on the vehicles present.

In specific relation to Welton, there was one caravan that parked up for one evening/overnight period, which left the next morning, so it is not comparable to the Gainsborough incidents and we have received no other reports or had any dealings with any reports or attendance at other illegal encampments in the WLDC area at this point.

In summary, the Protocol in place helped to bring about a swift resolution to the encampments and Officers acted swiftly, using the tools and powers that were available. The review of the incidents is currently being finalised and will be shared in full with the Chairman and Vice Chairmen of the Prosperous Communities Committee as well as the elected Members for Gainsborough.”

The original questioner confirmed he had no supplementary question, however another Member of Council sought to ask a question, and the Chairman, using her discretion permitted him to do so.

The question was welcomed, particularly the aspect relating to assessments. Acknowledging the incident had passed trouble free, and that that, in part, was down to businesses doing their upmost, as had been referenced by the Chief Executive, local business had reported being 80 percent down on trade that weekend.   Businesses, that had just come through the pressure of Covid, and the Councillor felt this needed to be recognised.  The Town Centre was already struggling and incidents of this nature, so close to the Centre, financially impacted business, he asked “Can these businesses afford that impact?”  Suggesting no, and as such, sought information as to what the Council would be doing to mitigate against such an incident happening again, given it had affected two consecutive weekends.

People were quick to change shopping habits, and the fear was they would avoid the area if they continued to find the site occupied by travellers.  Once shoppers were lost, they were hard to tempt back and the Town Centre needed the Council’s full support if it was to thrive.

The Chairman thanked the Councillor for his comments, whilst reminding the Chamber, as had been earlier explained, Officers and those involved acted swiftly and according to the protocols.  All accepted it was difficult to predict what may or may not happen, and as such the Chairman acknowledged it had been unfortunate for the shopkeepers and other businesses, but re-empathised it had been dealt with as swiftly at it possibly could be.  There was no easy solution. 

The Councillor acknowledged that Teams had responded well, noting a fantastic job, by Waste Services in terms of clean up, however it was again raised what would the Council do to mitigate this happening again; with another Councillor suggesting it would be resolved by providing appropriate site allocations.  

Rule 9 Questions were brought to an end, by the Chairman’s ruling.