Forum Topic

Encampment in Gunnersbury Park

Got a bit of a shock as I walked my dog this morning. There is a big camp - around 10 caravans plus cars. I asked one of the park staff whether it was related to a Fair, but she told me they were just camping there.There is a huge fly-tip near-by which may or may not be related.They are in the prettiest field - the one which is bordered by the North Circular - and have effectively cut off that corner of the park for the public.I have notified Hounslow Council. Gunnersbury Park must be one of London's most neglected spaces - but this is taking it to new depths.

Clare Gittins ● 4481d36 Comments

Did you see article on front page?

Sara Nathan ● 4480d

Did they just drive in unchallenged?

Kim Rugg ● 4480d

Challenged by whom? There are no staff in Gunnersbury Park.

Susan Kelly ● 4480d

Gunnersbury Park is officially 'shared' by Ealing and Houslow - none of them feel responsible, and they have been relying on lottery grnats and the likes for anything to happen...

Urs Esser ● 4479d

I believe these campers are 'travellers' who've chosen to camp in Gunnersbury Park. I hope the London Boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow find them a suitable location they can use - after all, there have been itinerant people in this land for centuries and its about time they were helped.

Gerry Tan ● 4479d

I was wondering whether there are any "proper" travelers' sites in the area, where they can camp legitimately. If not, it's scarcely their fault if they end up in a park.

Sara Nathan ● 4479d

Ealing council have just tweeted that notices were served this morning requiring them to leave by 8am tomorrow

Sue Buchan ● 4479d

To go where?Or is that not important?My brother - a JP in Surrey - says that expressed prejudice and discrimination against travelers/gypsies is the last allowable and acceptable form of racism in middle England.Is he right?

Sara Nathan ● 4479d

There is a site up by Park Royal which is legal. A bus collects the children and takes them to local schools.

Maire Lowe ● 4479d

"...the last allowable and acceptable form of racism in middle England."Don't know about that Sara, but there's something slightly romantic about travellers/Gypsies still being around in Britain. There's a certain mystery about them.

Gerry Tan ● 4479d

The Park has now been closed to the public for elf & safety reasons until the travellers can be removed.

Susan Kelly ● 4479d

Couldn't agree more. Their lifestyle (and the very fact of not settling in one place) seems both odd and interesting to me personally.http://www.travellerstimes.org.uk/downloads/lifestyle_history_and_culture_24052010111520.pdf

Sandeep Mestry ● 4479d

I think - according to ChiswickW4 frontpage, they have been moved along - to another park of which I have never heard. And leaving a LOT of mess behind.

Sara Nathan ● 4479d

Can we get real here.Have you seen the photos of the mess they (allegedly) left behind?Or the "after" photos whenever they move on from any site?Or all the cash in hand and evasion of all forms of taxation (allegedly) - VAT being a bit hard to evade I suppose!

Rosco White ● 4479d

How long before they eff it up?

Nikki Howard ● 4478d

I do like to remain open minded about the Travelling community but I find it hard to see the romantic side of this lifestyle when I read about how some groups abuse the sites they set up camp in . Gunnersbury park was closed because cars were being raced and members of the public reported being charged at by vehicles. Extensive damaged was caused to this public space requiring a clean up operation at taxpayers cost. It is hardly surprising the general public does not extend them a warm welcome. Now Blondin Park, a really lovely park in Ealing in the middle of a residential area, where children play and families relax,  will 'host' this group. A couple of weeks ago, the Gyuatt fun Fair set up camp in Acton park as they do a couple of times a year. After a stay of 10 days they left leaving just a few patches of faded grass where their vehicles had been parked. Of course they pay a deposit to pitch their fair.There was a bit more litter in the mornings but no vandalism.

Kim Rugg ● 4478d

There was a LOT more litter while the fair was on in Acton Park. I know because my mum was out with her litter-picker and said so, having picked up three carrier-bags full at a time.But, to be fair, it was just litter and may as likely have been dropped by people attending the fair or using the park more in fine weather. It wasn't heaps of detritus dumped in the rhododendrons or anything similar to the Gunnnersbury experience as reported.

Sara Nathan ● 4478d

Having had the misfortune of these people a few years back, when they broke into my scout hut, the damage they caused and also the unsavoury things they left behind. I have no sympathy towards these people, they are unwanted scum.

Glenn Young ● 4478d

Reality dawns for once on the sometimes naive ActonW3 posters - PC Brigade out-gunned!

Rosco White ● 4478d

Do travellers count as an ethnic group or as people who have made a lifestyle choice? Either way, as with all other groups, there are travellers and travellers. Having had to skirt around their encampment and been blocked off during my Monday morning walk by one of their disgusting fly-tips, it was clear to me that no one would want these travellers in a local park.

Clare Gittins ● 4478d

However (sorry for some reason couldn't add this to previous post) I am sure there are travellers who are not unpleasant, destructive, anti-social and threatening but I am also sure that those travellers wouldn't plonk themselves in a suburban park.

Clare Gittins ● 4478d

These are not Gypsies can we dispel that fallacy please?Gypsies are a  travelling people with dark skin and hair, traditionally living by itinerant trade and fortune telling. Gypsies speak a language (Romany) that is related to Hindi and are believed to have originated in South Asia.I used to encounter true Gypsies in the Midlands, many would arrive at harvest time and provided labour to help local farmers and when they left a site it was often tidier than when they arrived.By contrast, the people who occupied Gunnersbury Park and who are now occupying Blondin Park are tax evading rubbish dumping violent (please see the posts on the Ealing and Chiswick forums about their driving vehicles AT people in Gunnersbury Park) itinerants, mostly from Eire, who have no respect or people outside their community.If the PC bleeding heart liberals think that there is 'prejudice' against these people. Too bloody right there is  and, in the case of Gunnersbury Park six tonnes of waste (including human faeces) and a wrecked cricket pitch full of good reasons. Why not invite them to set up in your back garden if you think they are being persecuted.

Nigel Brooks ● 4478d

I don't think asking questions about the treatment of and attitude to and about travelers and/or gypsies, necessarily means anyone is a "PC bleeding heart liberal". But if it does, I 'fess up and accept it.The Gunnersbury crew sound appalling but I want to know if labeling in the way is often done, is OK.

Sara Nathan ● 4478d

Of course it's OK, to get the clear message across to our thickshit politicians that law abiding, tax paying people are fed up to the back teeth with PC Human Rights BS.We're lucky Gunnersbury/Blondin wasn't tarmacced and a permanent pitch sanctioned by our gutless politicos.

Rosco White ● 4478d

But, with respect Sara, you asked this question in the context of the people who illegally occupied Gunnersbury and now Blondin Parks leaving behind rubble and excrement and destroying parts of a public amenity, what type of response did you expect?Of course it is not right to isolate or treat differently any ethnic group. These people are not an ethnic group, they are not even genuine travellers who, if you go to the official site in Bashley road, keep it in relatively good condition. which part of that is not clear.Please don't let your own prejudices get in the way of fact.

Nigel Brooks ● 4478d

Nigel, well said.

Dee Cook ● 4476d

You are supposed to check that whoever takes your waste away is a licensed waste carrier and know where it is going to be taken.  You have a responsibility for your waste and can be prosecuted if it is traced back to you.So often you hear of it just being dumped around the corner.  In this case it has been Hounslow and Ealing's parks and OUR public amenities that have been damaged and put out of use and have to be cleared up at OUR expense. An extra expense that any Council won't want during a time cutbacks.

Philippa Bond ● 4476d

From the look of the rubbish left behind, these people have been working as builders/renovators locally.So, when employing builders you may be wise to check that they are not part of this group, as if evidence of your rubbish is found on site you could be liable for the cost of its disposal.I would expect the Council to look through the rubbish for such evidence in order that removal costs can be recovered and not borne by Council Tax Payers.

Dee Cook ● 4474d

I'm not prejudiced, just curious - inspired by my brother's experience as a JP - where he sees a lot of travelers and gypsies (both, I think) Some of whom are very anti-social, but all of whom get rather tarred by the same brush.The Gunnersbury lot seem ghastly, but it provoked me to  wonder also about the assumptions we make.

Sara Nathan ● 4474d

I think Sara, as I posted earlier in this thread, that we do need to dispel any connection between these people and Gypsies who are a recognised ethnic group. Some may class themselves as Gypsies but I would liken this to me having ginger hair and calling myself a Belisha beacon :-)I do wonder to where they have moved and who now has the 'pleasure' of their neighbourliness.

Nigel Brooks ● 4474d

Nigel, Belisha beacon, sounds so much nicer that many of the other names we get called.

Kim Rugg ● 4474d

I'm not sure that they have necessarily been working as builders but it looks as if they have been working with builders taking waste away.  Some of the waste must be recognisable from the photos as it isn't all just non-descript rubble and floorboarding.

Philippa Bond ● 4473d

They aren't working as builders or with builders. They drive around and when they see a house with builders waste piled up  they offer to take it away for cash then instead of taking it to the dump which they have to pay for, they fly tip it. We had someone call last week end offering to take our building rubbish away.

Kim Rugg ● 4473d

Kim, presumably if they take away the rubbish are they are in fact working with and for builders.It is a pity you did not take down the registration number of the vehicle being used by those who called at your property - if what you are saying is correct then Ealing Council would want to know this information in order to catch those carrying out this unsocial behaviour.

Dee Cook ● 4472d

No they are opportunists looking for a quick buck, they drive around looking for this kind of rubbish. and you will find that the registration number is bogus, they are unregistered untaxed...You should always use registered contractors as  you are legally responsible for the disposal of your rubbish.The clear up in the park is probably taking longer than we'd expect as they are looking for ways  of tracing it's origin and maybe fining the original owner of the waste.We did a check on a registration once when these lads in a van were harassing us about our Lurcher bitch, asking questions, like does she fight do you hare course her,can they buy her off us...We reported it to the police but the vehicle had no traceable identity.On the W4 forum , on the same thread one of the posters Andy Pease ex Scotland yard had a lot of information on the travelling community and how they seem to slip under the law.

Kim Rugg ● 4471d

They are also approaching local businesses.  Hopefully most businesses will tell them to go away empty handed but there are obviously some that think or rather hope they will get away with the odd illegal transaction.http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/local-news/90-tonnes-bulky-waste-200-7289778

Philippa Bond ● 4471d