Vandal-hit travellers' site to get a facelift

Over the last 14 months, the damage caused at Travellers Garth in Malton has been put at £5,300.

Amenity blocks have been trashed, and the non-rent-paying squatters left a mountain of rubbish behind.

In one incident at the end of last year a toilet roof was removed, plumbing and electrical fitting destroyed and roof timbers damaged.

The problems caused by the squatters were so bad there are now five empty pitches on the site, opened in 1986 as a permanent site for travellers. Ryedale District Council was recently granted a court order to remove the illegal residents - but when they arrived with the bailiffs they had already gone.

Now work looks set to begin to improve facilities on the site.

Ryedale's deputy director of operations, Steven Oldridge, said they had spent a considerable amount of time clearing the rubbish left by the squatters, and had sealed off the vandalised amenity blocks ready to start work soon.

He said: "We're not at all happy with what has happened on the site over the last year, but things seem to be going well with regards to clearing the site and correcting the damage.

"What we need now is a period of stability so we can monitor the site's popularity with permanent residents who, in the past, have been intimidated by the squatters."

He added that future management of the site - to ensure that the squatters do not return - will be discussed in the near future.

One proposal that some authorities, such as Harrogate and Hambleton, have adopted is a policy of tendering site management to the National Gipsy Council or travelling families.

During the past few months there has been an increase in the number of empty pitches on the site, which opened in 1986; there are currently five vacancies with no applicants on the waiting list.

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