Helston Packet article "Car park travellers eviction bid"

Helston Packet article "Car park travellers eviction bid"

I have followed the saga of the travellers in the Cornwall Council owned car-park at Coverack for many years, a car-park that members of the public always had to pay to use or risk a fine. I believe it is completely wrong that anyone of peripatetic origin can take up residence on private land, seemingly exploiting the fact Cornwall Council could not at the time provide them with a permanent or transient pitch, and then seek for a certificate of lawfulness for the land to be used for caravans for residential use. One traveller claims they have established connections to the local area, I have established connections to Porthleven but it does not grant me the right to live there if I cannot afford to obtain my own accommodation without exploiting the rights of others and inflicting my presence on their land. (Perhaps I should buy a caravan and go and park it in the local Cornwall Councillors garden!) My understanding is official guidance for local councils when providing a site with static and transient pitches for the travelling communities says, amongst other things, that travellers sites should be screened from local residential properties, include a play area, and animal exercise area. None of these specifications apply to Coverack Car-Park, and a public car-park which incorporates public toilets is not suitable as a caravan site, it is restricting car-parking in Coverack and as such continuing to risk tourism trade.

It appears to me that with the prospect of an official site becoming available after many years, that the travellers would not care to move onto an official site because they would actually have to start paying for their pitch and associated facilities.

If these travellers are granted official permission for which to be allowed to remain in the car-park, how long will it be before other council owned car-parks are inundated with travellers that decide they fancy a nice place to live that many others cannot afford, and decide they no longer want to travel.

I was married to a Gypsy for 23 years until his death, from a family that owned their own travelling fair, so do not speak from a biased position.

Gilly Zella Martin