Possible Traveller Sites in Warwickshire

[Lex]

I've just come across a couple of letters from the Coventry Telegraph:

The shocking headline in Saturday’s paper (‘Ban all illegal traveller camps’) shows how low this council can go. Their heavy handed approach boasts they will banish travellers from Coventry forever.

The council’s claim that they have the “solution to the traveller problem” has frightening similarities to other extreme events from history.

Ironically I was in Kenilworth with my grandchildren on Saturday where the Kenilworth Horse Fair was taking place.

This annual event is a boost to the town as tourists and gypsies alike bring much needed revenue to the shops, pubs and other businesses.

while we were there we got talking to some gypsies who were riding a horse and trap on the High Street, and they were more than happy to spend time talking about their culture and traditions while my granddaughter patted the horse.

If we all made the effort to understand other cultures and lifestyles rather than whipping up hostility like the council has then the world would be a far better place.


I write in response to ******* ********* concerning hostility toward travellers .

** ********* believes if we took the time to understand different cultures the world would be a better place. I don’t disagree and Coventry has a long and proud history of welcoming people from all over the world who then become an integral part of our local communities and contribute something positive to our city.

Unfortunately, the only thing the travellers leave behind are piles of rubbish, human excrement and an absolute mess of our public parks and open spaces. It seems that we have to respect their way of life, without them needing to respect the public land they seek to destroy whenever they visit.

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I will not apologise for urging the city council to take a tougher stance on travellers. There is a facility in Coventry for them to use without the need to use public spaces; they should use it or they can expect to be challenged each time they visit the city and to be moved as quickly as the law allows.

This cat and mouse game has to stop. We need to ensure that there is adequate space at the site we are legally obliged to operate for them, but there is absolutely no need for them to leave behind the mess they do. It is utterly disrespectful to local residents.

I've left the names out purposely (don't want any legal trouble!!)

Unfortunately, the respondent seems to have got the wrong end of the stick. The first letter was referring to actualGypsies, who - as far as i know - don't cause any trouble to anyone; whereas the Travellers are the ones who leave rubbish & human waste in out parks. An important distinction to make, I feel.

[rebbonk]

Spot on Lex.

True Gypsies are respectors of the land and you'll rarely see where they've been.

What we are infested with locally are tinkers and diddicoys. Basically these are nothing but spongers taking everything they can for free.

I'm of the mind that we ought take their property to recompense the local authorities for the damage and mess they leave behind. But I know this is difficult as proving ownership is difficult, if not impossible.