Travellers at Shirley Park for second time in a month - The Solihull Observer

Travellers at Shirley Park for second time in a month

Solihull Editorial 6th Sep, 2017   0

THE ONGOING issue of travellers setting up camp illegally in the borough continued as they descended on Shirley Park for the second time in less than a month.

The unauthorised encampment was set up after fencing by Aldi was allegedly cut, which enabled access to the land.

The group was evicted from the site last Saturday (September 2).

Solihull Council was at the site on Monday to ‘further secure’ the area.




On August 1, around 20 caravans arrived at Streetsbrook Road and Woodside Way despite trenches being built by Solihull Council in an attempt to prevent access.

The group then moved onto Shirley Park where a court order was obtained to remove them from the land.


The travellers then moved to Palmers Rough Recreation Ground in Shirley, where another court order had to be obtained to evict them from that land.

The group was escorted off Palmers Rough on August 14, but it re-settled on National Trust land on Kixley Lane in Knowle.

A petition, calling to strengthen anti-traveller defences followed the spate of unauthorised encampments, was set up by MP Julian Knight and signed by more than 3.500 residents.

The petition calls on the council for a more effective immediate response and a better long-term strategy to protect Solihull’s open spaces.

Solihull Ratepayers will be meeting at the Shirley Centre from 2pm on Friday, September 8, to discuss how to better control the traveller situation under the current Local Plan Review process by Solihull Council.

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