AIBU to find it disgusting that gypsies have taken over a school playground

[Adizzylass2014]

whilst attending my best friends wedding today in a little village I was horrified to see that gypsies had taken over the school playground. There was rubbish all over the floor, children and dogs running all over the place and scantily clad women puffing away.
why a school playground, these people have no morals. The poor caretaker is going to have his work cut out for him as there was at least 15 caravans!

They have to live somewhere.

The site near us did get some opposition but in the end got the go ahead purely because it was for travelers ...
And it is the one rule for them, another for anyone else and that puts people backs up.

No-one else would have been allowed to stick even one caravan there....never mind build a chalet - it goes against all the planning legislation. (It is outside an existing settlement, on agricultural land etc etc) And they have not kept within the terms of their permission - the council are constantly fighting with them over things - like it is supposed to be screened from the road (as it is in the middle of the countryside) and it isn't. And as I said it is constantly gradually expanding.
I drive past it regularly at different times of the year/day -with nothing else much to look at apart from fields you do notice but what really shocked me was recently looking at streetview (from 2009) of that road for something and I was shocked on much bigger it is now - at least 60-70%. If they are going to be moved on once the land become residential they could easily fit 40- 50 semis with garages on there now.
And travelers still descend on the city about 6 miles away even though I have never seen this anywhere near full. Even when caravans appear outside the boundary.

And at least two of the chalets have gate posts, a drive and large walled areas - large enough to park 2 -3 caravans without being crowded - still they'd all have more outside space than I do...
It does feel like a piss take and I can see why people get upset...

Rights and responsibilities. We all have rights. We also have responsibilities.

landrover You ask Certainly the vehicles are not generally taxed and insured as they have no permanent addresses (so why would they?)

Because if there is an accident and the driver of the uninsured vehicle is at fault that driver ought to be insured like everyone else should be?

SMILLA gay people don't necessarily do 'gay things' in public, even today, it's usually a thought out choice, ie whether to hold hands with your partner in public, how to introduce your partner, etc etc. Also we don't come out once, we come out continuously unless we look like the most obvious stereotype. And even then we still can be assumed straight!

'Totally weird ..conversations' I'm afraid are par for the course, over and over and over. But 'unnecessary'... no.

And yes, you office working, tax paying, baathroom using Travellers, Roma, Gipsies, you do need to speak out and become visible, or how the hell will people be able to see beyond the rottten apples?

For the avoidance of doubt I believe that any vehicle found to be untaxed, uninsured and without an MOT - regardless of the circumstances - should be taken off the road then and there and crushed immediately.

The problem is in many cases travellers have less rights.

If someone is traditionally homeless they have the right or emergency accommodation.

If a traveller is not parked in an official site they are simply continually moved on - there is no emergency accommodation made available to them.

AFAIK most traveller vehicles are taxed and insured, and at a higher price than many if us pay. I believe many if them will use a permanent site as an address, although they mat not be permanently resident there.

Unlucky: I have a similiar story:
A beautiful listed Grade 2 house nearby was bought by a rich property developer. Yes, he put in building plans and had them approved but then the work proceeded and everything was different to the plans, to the detriment of the property and the neighbouring properties.

There were several enforcement orders on the property, but the council didn't have the balls to enforce them.

If a traveller is not parked in an official site they are simply continually moved on - there is no emergency accommodation made available to them

Genuine question - would many travellers want emergency accomodation in the truest meaning i.e. housing or do you mean more broadly an emergency traveller site?

The thing is I agree there's an issue but I cannot see how ANYBODY can think it is fair to pitch up on someone else's land that they pay for?

Andrew: I think there's been a few footballers with uninsured cars too.

Do Gypsies and Irish Travellers pay taxes and rent?

All Gypsies and Travellers living on a local authority or privately owned sites pay council tax, rent, gas, electricity, and all other charges measured in the same way as other houses.
Those living on unauthorised encampments, generally speaking, do not pay council tax, but they also do not generally receive services. There are occasions when basic services, such as a toilet or a wheelie bin, are provided and the Gypsies and Travellers might make payment for this service direct to the appropriate local authority.
All residents within the UK pay tax on their purchases, petrol and road tax as do Gypsies and Travellers.

Here

If they pay more for their insurance there will be a reason, and it will be actuarial.

I know that the use of ANPR and the Motor Insurance Database has brought many unwilling sheep into the Car Insurance Club fold in recent years, and they have had to pay through the nose because they have not got a motoring record - but that's their own doing.

paxtecum and I would cheerfully see their cars crushed too.

But note that I said "untaxed, uninsured and without an MOT" - and not or. Any one of those failings may be carelessness, perhaps even two. When it's all three its lawlessness and should be dealt with appropriately - by crushing the car. And possibly disqualifying the driver too.

Fifi that is a great link! Thanks - I'm pretty shocked by this though:

"Nationally, 21% of all Gypsies and Irish Travellers living in caravans are homeless; this means they have nowhere legally to park their caravan"

A lot of travellers used to go in a club we used to go in years ago, I found them all ok. As long as you treat them all right they'll treat you right. One of them was in charge of the site where they stayed. You couldn't have met a nicer man. Everyone had loads of respect for him. Huge man he was, but a gentle giant, he kept all the younger ones in order that's for sure.

Crushing cars seems to be a waste of resources.

I've not mentioned this so far, but since someone raised travellers "moving in next to you" ... I used to run our community centre, next to which was a huge field, and was approached by the Council about siting a traveller group there - the idea was to extend the facilities for them rather than develop a whole new site

Though many locals objected, my own view was to see if we could make it work and a meeting was set up. Along came a guy with three of his sons, saying he represented "one of the leading families" and had been deputed to speak for them all; he insisted he knew everyone and "could guarantee there'd be no trouble or they'll have me to deal with"

That very night two of his sons were caught on CCTV, stealing from the centre and breaking into vehicles in the car park - perhaps not surprisingly the idea of the site was abandoned, and that's when the vandalism really escalated

Nobody suggested they were typical of all travellers, but my point is this: I've no doubt that family still insist they were turned down purely because they were travellers, rather than accepting any responsibility themselves. Maybe they even say "everyone hates us so why should we behave decently" ...

a FOI request re cra tax online here

They can use a C/O address

*Car Tax

ifinished that us happening where I live! Traveller families who have lived in my village for decades and are part if our community are being bullied and robbed by new Irish travellers who are coming over from Ireland.

It's awful watching them pack up and leave. They will be very much missed. I'm not talking to odd family. I'm talking about 100 travellers being forced to move because of violence, intimidation and theft from their homes.

Genuine question - would many travellers want emergency accomodation in the truest meaning i.e. housing or do you mean more broadly an emergency traveller site?

Sorry missed this. I meant that everyone has a right to be housed, except for travellers who just get moved on. Travellers should have a right IMO to enough sites for them all to live legally - at the moment going by a !ink above there are only enough pitches for 79% of the travelling population. There should be enough pitches for all, including allowance for transient population.

Our site is out of the way of other houses, tucked in behind an industrial estate and has been here all the time i have lived here and im nearly 40, so is the site in the next town over. I can see how this is different to having a site spring up say in the middle of a quiet leafy village and then expanding. Maybe if land was allocated sensibly it would help but i still think people would object anyway regardless even for a site out the way in the same town because there is so much bad press. I also dont see how you could possibly house them in social housing as the waiting lists are ridiculous and so is the amount of people who are homeless and non traveller, imagine how that would go down if the travellers were given priority because they are classed as homeless even though they don't want a council house and other poeple are made to wait, it would take decades to house them all anyway the way the lists are

Landrover I live on a traveller site,insure my honda crv,pay council tax,put rubbish in the bin for the men to pick it up every thursday.
I have running water,an electic meter that takes 1/2 pound coins, I use my toilet,it flushes normally, I work all the hours god sends in a care home to save up for my bucket and spade holiday with the children every sept. Every other carevan has a family pretty much identical to me,everyone works anyway.
All fair questions though landrover, i cannot tell you why some travellers are the subject of so much shameful examples here. We are all human i guess, we all see bad examples of humanity everyday, not just travellers.

Is there any way for the people who are using the school playground to be moved on quickly to minimise the impact on the pupils of the school?

While I sympathise with communities where parks, car parks and other open spaces are used by some travellers without legal places to stay, using a school playground and effectively closing the school until the situation can be resolved seems much worse.