Newbury residents plea to parish council in moving on nuisance campers
NEWBURY neighbours have spoken of their distress one year after a group of trespassers moved into a field near their home.
The residents of Equine Way, who preferred not to be named, were speaking at a Greenham Parish Council meeting on Wednesday last week and appealed to councillors for help, claiming the group had been playing loud music into the early hours and had left left drug paraphernalia strewn around.
One of the residents explained the situation at the field between Equine Way and Haysom’s Drive.
She said: “This has been going on for over a year now. Last week I counted 10 people and there are three tents.
“They were playing loud music until 3am the other night, and I couldn’t get any sleep before work.”
When asked what response they had had from the local police force, a second resident said that without evidence their hands were tied and that the duty fell on to the landowner, Rivar Ltd.
He said: “We have been speaking to the landowners who have been very good and are trying to get them moved on but they are saying they are having trouble and we want to see what the parish council can do.
“They are saying that because it is on private land they are having difficulty moving them on. They have asked these people to move on several times and they are not interested in moving on.”
The woman then added: “There’s no reason for them not to live there with the hot weather coming.”
Greenham Parish Council chairman Phil Barnett said: “I am a little bit concerned that you say you have had very little support from the local constabulary.”
Greenham parish and Newbury town councillor Julian Swift-Hook pointed out that the area falls under Newbury Town Council and not Greenham Parish Council, and added: “If on private land they need the consent of the land owners to move them on.”
Greenham parish and district councillor Billy Drummond then said: “The police don’t have any authority to go on to private land. The police won’t go there.”
Vice chairman Chris Austin suggested that “moving a bloody great bull into the field” would scare them off. “That seems to work,” he explained.
Chairman Phil Barnett said: “All I can say is that we would do everything in our power as members round the table to make sure you have a reasonable lifestyle which isn’t disrupted by people who have a different lifestyle to your own.”
When asked about the issue, Thames Valley Police said that the responsibility lies with the landowner unless a crime had been committed.
Landowner Rivar said that it responded immediately to telephone calls and correspondence sent by the neighbours of the site by speaking to West Berkshire Council and the police and was currently compiling evidence and monitoring the situation.
A spokesperson from Gardner Leader, representing the landowner, said: “Rivar sympathises with neighbours who may have experienced nuisance from these trespassers and has taken all necessary steps and advice on how to remove the trespassers.”
The legal firm added that a Rivar member of staff investigating the site was bitten by a dog there and as of Tuesday morning it appeared the trespassers had now moved on.
