Mill Hill News - Travellers take over St Josephs College fields - Updated

Breaking News - A large convoy of travellers has this morning moved onto the green belt grazing fields at St Josephs College, the former Roman Catholic missionary training college, currently being converted into luxury flats. The fields are currently rented by a local equestrian centre for grazing of horses. Local residents have contacted the Barnet Eye to enquire as to whether the local police, council and MP's will be taking action. We have contacted these bodies for a response and will update this blog later when the situation becomes clearer.

The London Borough of Barnet does not currently have a permanent traveller site. Over the past few years groups have moved into several sites around the borough, most recently Bunns Lane in Mill Hill. It is not clear whether it is the same group.
The travellers have now departed the site

Barnet Council : Freedom of Information request - Traveller sites

I have today submitted a freedom of information request, so that we can see exactly what sites are up for consideration regarding Mayor of London, Boris Johnson's requirement that Barnet Council provide 22 permanent sites for travellers.
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Dear Freedom of Information,

 

Please could you provide any information held by barnet council relating to potential sites for permanent traveller sites. There is a legal requirement to provide these, so please provide all documentation which identifies where Barnet may have either a) planned to site them or b) reviewed and discarded as an option.

 

Please also provide any emails from councillors to council officials relating to these decisions.

 

Regards

Roger Tichborne

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I wouldn't expect anything too soon, but as soon as I get a response I will publish it. This should be rather interesting (if I or the blog) live long enough to see the response

So when will Barnet Council allocate it's 22 pitches for travellers families?

Back in 2009, the Barnet Eye reported that Boris Johnson had snuck through a legal ruling, requiring Barnet Council to allocate 22 pitches for travellers and their families.The Barnet Eye asked where these would be.

http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2009/12/where-are-barnet-council-putting-22-new.html

There has still been no satisfactory answer. We suspect that Boris and Brian Coleman are waiting until AFTER the elections for the Mayor & Colemans GLA seat before grasping this nettle. What strikes me as rather odd is the way Tory politicians scream blue murder about how travellers have erected an encampment, in contravention of planning law, but do nothing about :-

A) Their rich mates flouting planning law with all manner of overdevelopments on the Green belt and in the conservation area.
B) The failure of Barnet Council to obey the law and set up proper, well regulated sites

This blog is not going to pretend that there are not issues with traveller sites. What is 100% clear is that the problems are a million times worse with illegal and temporary sites than with properly run, well regulated ones.

Although it seems that Barnet Council has booted this into the long grass, it is a legal requirement and sooner or later they'll have to do something. I suspect that they know there will be a huge anti Tory backlash at the next Council election and they'll be out of power. Then this will just be yet another mess left for Labour to take over in 2014. I have it on excellent authority that Labour will site the 22 pitches on a site in the leafy ward of Totteridge, as there is plenty of space up there - a great site has already been identified. Brian Coleman can then explain to his constituents why he didn't sort the issue out when he was in the cabinet. I look forward to Mr Coleman nipping down to the traveller site for a spot of canvassing. I'm sure he'll be made most welcome.

Where are Barnet Council putting the 22 new traveller sites?

Boris Johnson has set a legal requirement on the London Borough of Barnet to construct 22 new sites in the Borough for travellers. This arbitary number has been imposed on Barnet without consultation. Rather hypocritically, Mayor of Barnet, Brian Coleman has accepted a well paid job from Boris running the fire and emergency services. Coleman sounded off about this imposition by Boris, but didn't see fit to actually give up his well paid job in protest.

Unlike Brian Coleman, the Barnet Eye does not go around blindly criticising proposals until we see the details. This requirement has been known for many months and the Barnet Eye has been making enquiries as to the size and location of these camps. We are also interested to know whether they indicated that there will be a massive increase in the numbers of travellers or whether the proposal is just to make proper sites for travellers already living within the borough in less suitable sites.

This blog has long championed the green belt and we have major concerns that several sites have been earmarked which will have a major impact on the green belt within the borough. The council owns huge swathes of land in areas such as Mill Hill and Barnet, and given that travellers do not erect permanent structures, it is far easier to circumvent planning regs for mobile homes.

As this legal requirement has been known for many months, the Barnet Eye has made enquiries as to the location of these sites and been told that they have not been decided. Given that this is a legal requirement why could this be? The answer, sadly, is rather obvious. There are council elections in May and the Conservatives know that many of these sites will be in marginal wards such as Mill Hill and High Barnet. They know that the proposals will not be popular with their voters and they do not want the fact that a Conservative Mayor of London imposed them to become widely known before the election. In short they are hoping to keep it all quiet until after the election.

The Barnet Eye believes that important issues such as this, which may have a huge effect on the green belt and open spaces should be matters of public consultation. Lets be clear about this. Boris Johnson has made the decree, so we HAVE TO HAVE the sites. The Barnet Eye believes that it is hugely important to make sure these are properly sited and that locals have a say in the important issues that are raised. As with many things, I suspect that Leader of Barnet Council, Lynne Hillan will simply wait till after the election, then impose them wherever she feels like it, without any consultation whatsoever.