Clearing up after travellers cost Calderdale Council 'up to £10,000', claims councillor

Councillor Peter Caffrey (Con, Northowram and Shelf) said a constituent had provided him with information they had received about clean-up costs.

It would be much cheaper to make such sites traveller-proof, said Coun Caffrey, who raised the question at a full council meeting.

Councillor Caffrey said travellers gained access to Shelf Hall Park earlier this year by removing two wooden posts which had gone rotten and would have cost around £50 to replace.

“In brief, costs of the Shelf Hall Park incursion was something like £5,300 clean-up costs, £215 legal fees and various other things in court costs, and this excludes any management time,” he said.

“If actually calculated it’s about £10,000 for a clean-up.”

He did not know why proposals to better secure sites his party had made appeared not to be taken up.

“But given the cost of one clean-up multiplied across the borough, surely it must be cheaper to protect these places from incursions than to repair the damage after they’ve gone?” he asked.

Cabinet member for Public Services and Communities, Coun Jenny Lynn (Lab, Park), said considerable work was ongoing looking at the whole question of provision of appropriate stopping places for travellers, including looking at security of the council’s open spaces so they did not have to be subject to clean-up operations.

Her regular report to councillors said clean-ups diverted resources from day-to-day operations, and also incurred additional cost if specialist contractors have to remove particular waste types.

It was also important inequalities and discrimination faced by these communities were addressed, while minimising costs and disruption for settled communities.

“We are very well aware in some cases what is appropriate is to try and prevent unauthorised access to particularly public spaces that are really valued by local residents,” said Coun Lynn.

As far as specific costs went, she could not comment further without more information from officers.

“I think the point you were trying to make was prevention is better than cure, and I quite agree with you,” she said.