Residents on Halifax street fed-up of caravan parked on their road for months and demand Calderdale Council takes action

Residents of Portland Road say they are fed up with the caravan, and say it has been parked there for months but their pleas for help to the council have been unsuccessful.

One resident, Caroline Booth, says her brother was close to being seriously injured or killed when the caravan exploded only yards from him when he was visiting at the weekend.

"We've been highlighting the danger of the gas bottles and generator that should legally be stored in a metal cage and locked," Caroline said, "and the danger of the generator for months.

"The council’s lack of action on both this matter and the landslide has now been proved to have been putting the residents lives at risk and this could easily have resulted in my brother, or school children who walk past this daily, being injured on their way to school as the caravan is parked outside a junior school.

"Had this happened a few days earlier then there is no way the emergency services would have been able to access the street due to the weather as the council have failed to deal with of clear a landslide that occurred on the main way into the estate over 14 months ago."

Residents say they have filed a report with the Health and Safety Executive regarding their unhappiness with Calderdale Council's handling of the issue.

"We are clearly not a priority for the council," said Caroline, "and it is unacceptable that this will be allowed to continue into next year.

"We are already over a year with this and going into a second winter.

"We raised the issue of access via the steep, narrow, cobbled, slippy and overgrown Range Bank during winter months and there being only one access, meaning the gritters would not come down in adverse weather due to the steep and narrow nature of it.

"With regards to the landslide, this is now two winters the residents of Portland Road and Prospect Street have been left in this unacceptable position - cut off with no clear way forward.

"We have been left nothing short of stranded on Portland Road with Range Bank being our only exit which is obviously impossible for any service as we said it would be.

"Even in decent weather the landslide causes chaos for the school traffic.

"It is an eyesore and is becoming even more dangerous and neglected over time.

"This is truly cost cutting at its finest, compromising the safety of the community and ignoring common sense.

"The impact on the wider economy and services, schools and businesses has been completely ignored.

"The cost to do this work in comparison to the works in the borough is frankly minimal.

"The traveller continues to live on our street in his caravan. We have been told this has been awaiting action from the council’s legal service for weeks now."

Andrew Pitts, Calderdale Council’s Assistant Director - Neighbourhoods, said: “We are aware of the caravan on Portland Road and the concerns of nearby residents.

“Since residents reported this to us, our community safety wardens have made several visits to the caravan to try to engage with the owner.

“We asked the owner to move the boarded-up caravan due to the distress that local residents have reported it is causing and because of its proximity to homes and a school, whilst also checking on the owner’s welfare and offering support and ways to find another place to live.

“When our engagement efforts weren’t successful, we had to serve legal notices requiring the owner to leave. These notices have also been disregarded by the owner, so we have had no choice but to apply to the Court. Safety is always our priority, but we also must ensure that the correct process is followed.”