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!

The trouble with that SamG, is that it is pretty unlikely than anyone else but travellers or gypsies will be the people setting up camp in a school playground (what other group of people would do this, without permission?) Muggings are perpertrated by members of every race, gender and background.

It is a valid thing to ask - 'what can be done about a group of people (from whatever background) who set up a camp overnight, sometimes in completely inappropriate places who are hard to move on and who (in several examples including the op) leave a huge mess which is expensive and unpleasant to clear up'

Isn't it disgusting that my mum was mugged by some Somalis off the council estate" - pretty obvious, but clearly trying to make some point about immigration or the local estate

And there is a point to be made.

What point do you think people have been trying to make?

(And again - in general, Somalis are more likely not to mug you than to mug you)

I also think it's ok to ask why people feel they can pitch up where they want to and leave a whole pile of crap behind.

In general , most members of certain groups do not behave in such an anti social way.

I would say that: in general, most people's experiences of travellers who pitch up somewhere for a while has been that most of them do behave in a negative and anti social way.

I think it's legitimate to ask why that behaviour is generally to be expected and to ask why that happens.

Like I said, most members of certain groups and minorities do not behave in an antisocial way. But I do think that travellers (those who pitch up somewhere) do have a negative reputation - and you can see why given people's experiences on this thread.

So you need to address why some sections of the travelling community are leaving a mess and destroying things, this is quite interesting here , people fly tipping next to encampments and also if they are moved on by police in the middle of the night in some cases they can't clean up what is left behind . Obviously this doesn't mean there are not travelers deliberately making a mess as i'm sure there are, the same as their are people on my council estate who fly tip or leave rubbish all over and people in their own houses who do the same. I have some waste land next to my house, sine the council massively increased the amount for rubbish collections and fortnightly bin collections this bit of waste land has filled with rubbish which the council clear every so often.

I suspect after being moved on time and time again they just leave the mess and destroy things as they know they will be made to leave which is wrong and hardly paints them in a good light to locals but they are moved and the same thing happens again so now another viliage has a bad experience and a low opinion of them and news travels, they try and park up somewhere and immediately have the locals going mad telling them to leave but they have no where else to go knowing they will get moved from there, they can't continuously drive around without stopping. Its pretty sad really and probably quite stressful. I still say if they have allocated legal sites it would give people pride and some would look after the sites like the ones i have seen which are clean and well maintained. Giving them allocated sites they pay council tax on and rent surely can't cost more in the long run than massive cleanups every few weeks

One of the troubles is that Travellers are understandably being alienated from the settled communities. IMHO, considering the way people feel free to talk about them and treat them, it is more than understandable.

I was staying in a small town in Ireland one summer when some five or six caravans parked on a piece of common land. One of the shopkeeper's was grand but you could see that the traveller children wouldn't dare touch anything in the shop. Meanwhile the pub owner refused to let the travellers in, while everyone was going around complaining because they had lovely new caravans. They were all clean, tidy and respectful but that didn't stop the nastiness and discrimination.

Thanks fifi

"However, for those who travel, the area outside their
home is their workplace and keeping it tidy may not be a priority"

I am struggling to reconcile this with the practice of occupying a sports field, then shitting around the edges of the field, on the footpath, on the banks of the stream at the side of the field, and in the surrounding woods, for a period of weeks.

There is obviously some reason for not using the closets inside the vans, and for not digging a sanitary latrine.

What is it?

I think you would be surprised if you knew how many travellers actually owned houses that are rented out but they choose a nomadic lifestyle because it's what they want to do. I'm not sure they are as alienated from settled communities as you might think as many live in houses or as I said, own them.

Have you seen Chocolat?

A group of travellers arrive by boat - and based on previous experiences, they are shunned by the community.

I treat people as I see them. I have worked with children from many backgrounds - including Romany gypsies. I make the effort to include them and to treat them like everyone else. I do not stereotype them and treat them like shit. I know enough about being stereotyped to know what's that like.

But I do think people should behave socially and respect others. It's not difficult.

I don't think it's unique to travelers. You see the same with squatters, some music festivals, parties where things get out of hand, etc. People often misbehave when they don't consider themselves at home and don't think they will suffer the consequences.

Pig i have no idea maybe they do it deliberately and if they do its hardly going to paint them in a good light, maybe they empty the caravan loos in the field ? where do you empty caravan loos normally, i think there would be pace for this on a locale site for non statics and statics are plumbed in

oops terrible typing

i think there would be a place for this on a legal site

You have a pile of rubbish, crap and waste.

Do you :

a) Leave it on the site you've occupied assuming someone will clean it up
b) Somehow try to take it to a suitable place for disposal.

I understand that (b) may be more difficult but it's the social thing to do.

do they quickly run and empty the caravan toilet in the field when the cops come to move them maybe as they don't have time to dig a hole, i seriously have no idea where you would empty a caravan toilet on the move

not sure how correct this is but if you google and read about it on caravan club websites people empty and drain the toilets while in transit for towing allowances? and while in transit do not carry water for various reasons

No, having broken into the sports field, they stay there for a matter of weeks or months while dragging out attempts to evict them.

There is no "left in a hurry, didn't have time" about it.

I am not a traveller but have camped in places without sewage facilities, and know how to use a spade.

from google
Emptying a chemical toilet Now this is the dreaded bit. Your chemical toilet is full and it needs to be emptied. Well, it is quite simple actually. First of all you must remember that you are only allowed to empty your caravan’s toilet into a specifically designated place. It would be unhygienic to just tip your waste where you please and the chemicals should not be allowed to go into the sewage system.
In a caravan park there should be a disposal unit that should be marked as a Chemical Disposal Point or CDP, however at some sites it may be labelled as an Elsan Point. If you can’t find the right place then you may have to wait until you get home and flush it down your own toilet. Do not be naughty and tip it where you please.

are they shitting in bushes or emptying their vans toilets outside as there are no CDPs on illegal encampments

I can say that in all my years with caravans, we've never emptied crap out.

If you need to empty the toilet, you use the chemical toilet at a campsite.

Can I ask a question to the posters of Romany extraction? Is there a system of justice within the community? Or did the travelling way of life preclude anyone being in charge? I'm wondering I suppose how wrong'uns were handled traditionally? And thinking about whether that has any bearing on the modern element that cause trouble and ruin it for the others.

This morning, in an attempt to seek out some more positive news, I said that surely there must be cases where the more visible travellers (such as those who pitch up somewhere and stay a few days) have come and gone with no problems to the wider community

So far only Coyoacan has mentioned a happier outcome ... anyone else??

if they are being evicted in the middle of the night, they get evicted at some point, then they would need to empty the caravan toilet unless they risk travelling with it full which appears to not be an advisable thing to do on the caravan club website.

Still disgusting but maybe they are not just shitting in bushes, all the more reason to have proper sites with proper facilities imo

They come and go to the site in my town Puzzle but that's a legal, council ran site with a family looking after it. Quite a few in Tyne and Wear

I think most Travellers' caravans don't have toilets in which is fine if you are somewhere with a toilet block but obviously creates problems if you're not. Speaking purely about the negative experience that I had when Irish Travellers moved to the village, the damage seemed gratuitous and vindictive, there was human waste and san pro left in the hedges, a huge amount of broken glass on the fields and play equipment damaged. Again I don't think this is representative of the majority of travellers but this minority who seem to act in such a terrible way towards the communities them move through cause so much reputational damage. As I said I had neighbours who were English Travellers and who were very pleasant people and through my work I have been in contact with Romany Gypsies, again I had absolutely no problems with them, I have however found the Irish Travellers I worked with (this was before the experience in my village btw) quite abrasive. I realise these experiences are very limited and wouldn't presume to generalise from them but it did make me wonder whether Irish Travellers generally have more hostile attitudes to the settled community.

Romany "extraction" what does that mean?

On reflection maybe I should be explicit that I'd ask the same question if there are any posters of Irish Traveller background too. Don't want anyone to think I'm saying it's one group who have the reputation of causing the mess. The thread's a bit twitchy.