Travellers ignore notice to quit Birkhill site
A group of travellers camped close to Birkhill Cemetery are apparently continuing to defy legal proceedings brought by Dundee City Council.
The travellers' camp at Birkhill.
- By Brian Allison
- Published in the Courier : 13.07.10
- Published online : 13.07.10 @ 01.03pm
The travellers set up camp at the site late last week, leading to calls from local politicians and residents to have them moved on as quickly as possible.
More than a dozen caravans were still beside Templeton Woods and just north of the cemetery on Monday night, having ignored a notice to quit served on them by the council — and they looked in no rush to move on.
A spokesman for the council said the notice had been served on Friday, requiring the travellers to leave the site within 24 hours.
"They have not done so and now the council will be applying for a court order enabling it to enforce the notice," he said.
Kenneth Nicol, from Birkhill, voiced his frustration that the travellers were still there.
"What's so horrible about this situation is that they are ignoring the laws of the country and causing a mess they leave behind," he said.
"These travellers are making a fool of our police as they stop illegally time and time again. There's no punishment for these people and it just seems wrong."
Councillors for Strathmartine ward, in which the cemetery lies, said they are concerned about the effect the encampment could have on the graveyard.
Councillor Stewart Hunter said there had been problems in the past with travellers moving on to areas of ground in the city and, in this case, he felt their presence could be especially distressing for people attending funerals or visiting graves.
Councillor Kevin Keenan said he had raised the issue with council chief executive David Dorward and was assured the legal process to have the travellers removed was under way.
He said past experience showed travellers usually left large amounts of rubbish and litter and that was particularly unacceptable close to a cemetery.
Deputy provost Ian Borthwick described travellers' encampments as a perpetual nuisance.
While unofficial travellers' sites spring up all over Tayside and Fife, their official stopping place on the outskirts of Dundee is less than half full.
A spokesperson for Dundee City Council said on Monday, "Balmuir Wood at Tealing has a capacity of 20 pitches — 12 of these are available at present.
"This time last year the site was full."
In Dundee a group set up at the Dunsinane industrial estate on Friday but were gone before the weekend was over.
It is the responsibility of the landowner to serve a notice on unwanted arrivals and enforcement can only be taken if the travellers stay beyond the time the notice expires.
The spokesperson said, "The site at Balmuir Wood is designed primarily for long-term stays but can also accommodate stays of a few weeks."
It was set up at a time when a "non-harassment policy" was in force, prohibiting the authorities from moving travellers on if there was no permanent site.
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