Travellers have just moved near house....:(

There are many gypsy ponies on one of my sites for work (one is so tiny, I want to put it in my car :eek: ). There have been people camped there in the past but they are not there for more than a few months. They still leave a mess though. Twice I have found piles of human excrement on the floor, decorated with toilet paper. Only this week I found one of them, in a lay by next to a cycle route (this is York so lots of bikes). Just gross.

I think tbh, most people's experiences of them are negative, if you don't learn from experience then I don't know what you'll learn from! :)
 
I live near a few gypsy families that are housed.

Never had a problem with them tbh. I did get a little concerned when one came round asking if my filly was for sale - I immediatly moved her to my other grazing.

I've had a horse stolen by gypsies before but managed to find her, it was a different family though and in a different area. We found her left on a public footpath - apparently that is a typical gypsy trick to leave them in a public place so there is no proof to link them to the theft. Its mostly mares they are interested in.

Anyway, getting back to the local families, I've never had a problem with them. I mind my own business, they mind theirs. Their actually fantastic for removing unwanted washing machines etc - I leave them outside, they always knock first and ask if they can take them and I'm always happy to oblige.
 
I haven't read everything that has been said but we are fairly friendly with a familly of travelers which yes they do have different customs to us but the way they are been treated atm just because of who they are is disgusting
They have recently moved into a house in a quiet village, the 2 girls have been shouted at at they are only 2 and 4 so no understanding of this. From the outset they were told they would be evicted from the house if they have and visitors of family to the house other than for the children
Have been complained about because there truch stuck out from there drive by and inch and a half, yes someone got the tapemeasure and camera out and have since caught a lovely member of the public putting mud into there kids paddling pool not once but 3 times but the police say it is a civil matter and won't do anything. They live there too scared to move incase they are evicted.
All of this is been caused by the rest of society and these transports are just trying to get on with there live normally
No one should put them all into one group and presume they are all the same
Can't see what I've written so sorry I'd it doesn't make sence
N&F
 
FionaM12 said:
I have been a victim of crime several times in my life, but the perpetrators have never been the travellers. I have not lost compassion or understanding for anyone, let alone a whole section of society.

I'm going to leave this thread, as I truly hate prejudism, racism and bigotry and I can see this is a subject which could bring out all those attitudes. It will only make me cross if I read such posts.

OP, I hope you overcome your fears and face the arrival of these people with an open mind. I'm off now. :)
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I totally agree with you, I was shocked to see this thread! Like you I also have travellers living near me, and I was vert grateful when one of my horses escaped, as they helped me catch him without a thought, and brought him back to me. They are well able to handle horses! I've never had any problems and they are just like every other human being on the planet!, You get good and bad in every race, colour, culture etc... This is meant to be a civilised, cosmo Country so where do people get off, being racist???
 
There are lots of gypsys round here, some have been on settled sites for generations and in general we get on OK. We try to keep on good terms and help them out occasionally with a tractor if they need it.

Trouble in the form of theft, coursing and leaving gates open, etc. is usually caused by the "cousins" who come visiting and don't live round here.
 
AngieandBen said:
I think my village is the only one in the country that's school is soley for "travellers children"
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No, there are plenty of units for traveller children here.
They are notoriously hard to keep in school because of their culture and they get hell in mainstream schools for a variety of reasons.
I think the more traveller children in class and getting an education, the better, personally, plenty of the older ones cannot read or write.
There are Anglican schools and Catholic schools too.


OP, I really don't get this bit:
"But i am not happy at them moving next to an estate full of kids playing in the play park next to site and also a lot of dog walkers"

They tend not to bother with other people's kids or dog walkers?!


Maybe I've been lucky or met more old-time travellers but I have never had an issue with them (that said I am not sure I would like it if a camp rocked up on my doorstep) :p
 
Ive only had two experiences with travellers and both were very different!

There is a small group who travel round in traditional style caravans - they are all lovely people, clean the area after them, chat to people etc. Theyre a bit 'rough' but nice people and when theyre parked near an area I walk my dog I'm happy to leave my car parked there. The last time they were here the area looked better once they had left as they cleared the ditch and hedgerows for the farmer :)

On the other hand a larger group moved into an abandoned warehouse carpark near where I lived. Crime went up in the area, they would abuse anyone who dared to walk past. The kids were caught more than once throwing glass bottles at cars and they would go out on to the main A road and kick footballs etc at cars and if anyone stopped to speak to them the adults from the camp would set on them :( When they left the mess they left behind was astounding - Ive never seen anything like it apart from a rubbish dump.
 
FionaM12 said:
Yes, there are lots of travellers near me. My experience of them is I'm polite to them, they're polite to me. Some of them are friendly and helpful, some aren't. Just people really.

I've never had any problem with them.

I wouldn't keep my horse the same way as they keep theirs, but that's a matter of different cultural attitudes.

I'd try to remove the pre-conceived ideas you've seen in the media and give them a chance, if I was you.
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^ This exactly :) Couldnt have put it better if i tried!
 
horseelady said:
I totally agree with you, I was shocked to see this thread! Like you I also have travellers living near me, and I was vert grateful when one of my horses escaped, as they helped me catch him without a thought, and brought him back to me. They are well able to handle horses! I've never had any problems and they are just like every other human being on the planet!, You get good and bad in every race, colour, culture etc... This is meant to be a civilised, cosmo Country so where do people get off, being racist???
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montyforever said:
^ This exactly :) Couldnt have put it better if i tried!
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Good point.Totally agree with this. Theres GOOD and BAD everywhere.
 
"No, there are plenty of units for traveller children here.
They are notoriously hard to keep in school because of their culture and they get hell in mainstream schools for a variety of reasons."

This is a mainstream school, not a unit, it was full of local children when we moved here 10 years ago, Its also an adult centre, all funded by the tax payer. We know they don't pay taxes, several have been in jail because of money laundering and one for murder, they bought a local 45 acre farm with laundered money, we have police helicopters/dogs around all the time, the've been raided, and were even spotted nicking my Landrover and driving into a container ready to be shipped off to Ireland!! The police did nothing!, however my insurance paid up within days and paid out more than it was worth? how do make that out?!


I agree there are good and bad, and tbh I haven't had any personal problems with them for a few year now, even though there are well over a hundred within a mile of my house. Its the problem of " they seem to be able to do whatever they like wherever they like" that annoys me; We've been trying to sell our house for over 2 years, the price has dropped nearl 200K in three years ( I know some is because of bad times )

Its very hard not to be prejudist, and I try hard not to be, some of the ones I have met while out riding have been polite, but only yesterday a couple of young girls passed me and thought it funny to slow down then put their foot down as they got to me screetching and leaving tyre marks on the road and almost losing control, I've made my point and anyone who wants to buy a 6 acre farm let me know :D
 
I think its a tricky one, at the end of the day every family, every person is different and there will always be good and bad in any social "grouping". However they have a bad reputation for a reason if they were almost all lovely families who cleaned up after themselves, camped where allowed or moved on without a fuss if they werent, and didnt commit criminal offences then there would be no stereotype.

Personally I would try to keep and open mind luckily *touches wood* we dont have any camps round here so I dont have the concern of whether they are "good" or "bad" travellers because lets face it its hard not to be aware/wary about it when we hear so many bad stories. If some arrived I'd be polite and certainly wouldnt instantly assume that they were all thieves, but would I invite them onto my property for a cup of tea same as I do with my neighbour if I see her taking her labby for a walk, no. Its difficult to tell the set up of our yard and house from the outside and I wouldnt want them knowing the set up, they may have never done anything illegal in their lives but its just not worth the risk of making it easier for horses, equipment, vehicles etc to go missing, I'd probably feel bad about judging them without knowing them a little but not as bad as I'd feel if I thought being nice had contributed to a theft of my horses or property, and somehow I just dont think my 70 odd year old neighbour is going to jack the quad bike :D!

I do think things such as travellers only schools in areas where the travellers have firmly claimed are a good idea, surely the more we educate them, the better morals they have and better chances of getting work and so the less likely to commit offences they become and ergo the stereotyping and discrimination would reduce :). Then people wouldnt mind having them nearby so much and as attitudes changed their presence wouldnt cause property prices to drop so no-one would have a reason to hate them! If we can help them to not "bring it on themselves" then we make it better for everyone :) In an idealistic world of course ;)
 
I know you shouldn't tar them all with the same brush but I personally cannot help it having only ever having bad experiences with them in the horse world and outside of it too.
I never got myself involved with them but they chose to bother me and my family.
 
You hit the nail on the head becca1305 "areas they have firmly claimed" they have no right to be there, its all green belt land, they have been refused permission to be there for years, yet they are still there, putting down roads/hardcore/parks, you name it they have it.

It just makes my blood boil when a couple in the village were made to pull down their beautiful stone wall outside becasue they didn't have permission! They put in permsission and it was refused because it wasn't wood like the neighbours! It makes no sense :(

And what makes me laugh ( although not really funny ) is a local guy who works for the council owns a plot of the land that they have taken over!!; he can't get them off! he bought the land to keep his two ponies on and he was refused permission because of being on green belt and it would have had to have an access road down to it.
 
If you do have problems i found out the name of the company that our landowner used when we had problems with travellers. They are called Able Investigations i got the number off the internet 08453707401 he said they were very helpfull and able to give good advise. Hope this helps :)
 
I would be worried too. There is a moving camp near to us, periodically turns up on private land (which they break into to get on) about 1.5 miles from the house. While they are camped there, a previously crime-free street will have several break-ins and cars stolen. They move on, it all stops. They come back, it starts again. Coincidence?!

My previous yard has been broken into three times by travellers - the Police do nothing about it. Have known people see them hitch up someone else's trailer, drive it off with those people following them. The witnesses call the Police, tell them they've followed them to their camp and watched them drive the stolen trailer in... Police invariably say don't follow them and never follow it up themselves.

OP, make sure everything is locked up that can be. Don't leave anything out in the garden and make sure ALL of your windows are locked, all of the time.
 
buy a shotgun and an german shepherd :) that ought to do the trick ;) :D. In all serious though dogs are a good deterrent IMO my harmless GSD puppy (10 months) gets scared/worried when people appear stands her hackles up on end barking her head off and runs at them. So far all the delivery men stupid enough to venture up the drive instead of pressing the buzzer, bar one, have all turned and run tehe :) shes absolutely harmless and if she catches them will stand a distance away barking at them until shes certain they are safe and then covers them in licks! the one who stayed put had alsatians so he knew it wasnt nasty barking and she adored all the fuss he gave her. So she is pretty useless as a guard dog IF people have GSDs which are also nice and know, but if not they peg it! :D. Getting a sign put up asap now about "guard dogs" on the gate so we dont end up giving a delivery man a heart attack!
 
sarahw123 said:
one of the reasons people dont warm to travellers is they scream 'racism' when they try to pull a fast one by applying for retrospective planning permission and councils turn round and tell them they have to live by the same laws everyone else does.

This is spot on!!!
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I assume you are referring to Dale Farm?? In this case it was the Council that pulled a fast one as the land in question is a BROWN FIELD Site which means they had a right to have planning permmission there, Brown Field sites are fields that are passed by the Local Plan for future planning be it caravans, houses, industrial est's etc.. In this case the Council were being racist as they decided that because travellers wanted to live on this BROWN FIELD site they would break all the rules and refuse them planning permission. Prior to the travellers living there it used to be a scrap yard, and I beleive for as long as 30 years!!!!, hence, hence BROWN FIELD SITE. Would you make the same comments about our other ethnic groups in this Country??
 
the Council that pulled a fast one as the land in question is a BROWN FIELD Site which means they had a right to have planning permmission there
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They had a right to have their planning application considered - not a right to expect to be able to live there.

There is a huge difference.
 
horseelady said:
I assume you are referring to Dale Farm?? In this case it was the Council that pulled a fast one as the land in question is a BROWN FIELD Site which means they had a right to have planning permmission there, Brown Field sites are fields that are passed by the Local Plan for future planning be it caravans, houses, industrial est's etc.. In this case the Council were being racist as they decided that because travellers wanted to live on this BROWN FIELD site they would break all the rules and refuse them planning permission. Prior to the travellers living there it used to be a scrap yard, and I beleive for as long as 30 years!!!!, hence, hence BROWN FIELD SITE. Would you make the same comments about our other ethnic groups in this Country??
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Yes of course, thats why an appeal to the high court failed, the whole British legal system is racists - come on, get real

BTW I have a family of travellers who live next door, they are all very polite, their site is ammaculate and we have no problems with them at all. When we moved in they stopped and welcomed us and said if we ever needed any help just let them know. Unlike the neighbours on the other side - A doctor and physiotherapist, they just get on my wick!
 
Magicmillbrook said:
Yes of course, thats why an appeal to the high court failed, the whole British legal system is racists - come on, get real

BTW I have a family of travellers who live next door, they are all very polite, their site is ammaculate and we have no problems with them at all. When we moved in they stopped and welcomed us and said if we ever needed any help just let them know. Unlike the neighbours on the other side - A doctor and physiotherapist, they just get on my wick!
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And it was impossible for the the families to have a fair hearing with all the publicity, the decision was not made on merit it was made on the fact that they were travellers. They were within the criteria, and there was no reason to refuse them on the grounds of planning law. It is very upsetting to see that yes, it is quite possible that our British legal system could be racist but it would have to be proven. It's not looking good for the goverment, customs, etc. as we speak, so the next public fiqures disgraced might just be the legal system it's self.
 
The ones by us are on Green Belt, its agricultural land, the've built roads, put hardcore down, tapped into the farmers water supply, have generators going 24/7, yet my neighbour couldn't put a barn up on her 6 acres for her horses because it was "too big" for the amount of land she has................THIS is what makes me so angry;

Fine, they have to have somewhere to live..........so buy a house like the rest of us? go by the rules like the rest of us have to. I'd love to build houses on my 6 acres, think of the money we'd make, my OH being a builder too!!
 
horseelady said:
I totally agree with you, I was shocked to see this thread! Like you I also have travellers living near me, and I was vert grateful when one of my horses escaped, as they helped me catch him without a thought, and brought him back to me. They are well able to handle horses! I've never had any problems and they are just like every other human being on the planet!, You get good and bad in every race, colour, culture etc... This is meant to be a civilised, cosmo Country so where do people get off, being racist???
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Likewise. I'm just glad there are some balanced voices of reason on here too.
 
If you are concerned that your horse may be stolen then my advice would be to ensure that your horses are freezemarked on their shoulders so that they can be easily identified. As a precaution take photos of your horse in Summer and Winter from all four sides and keep them in a safe place.
Also an alsation type dog is a good deterrent to intruders.
Unfortunately there are bad ones in every community.
 
I dont know when society changed for the worse but it definatly has!
Some years ago, it was safe to leave your doors unlocked, safe to walk down the road at night, and safe for teenagers to socialise together.
Some years ago gypsies lived and worked (yes worked) in relative peace with their neibhors (sp), a lot travelled the country, finding work and a place to stay, on the same farmers land each season.
Every bit of our society has changed for the worse, life isnt as safe as it once was, i am just as likely to be robbed, mugged, or much worse by a settled person as i am by a gypsy.
I think you have more to fear from some ferral teenager tbh!
 
horseelady said:
I assume you are referring to Dale Farm?? In this case it was the Council that pulled a fast one as the land in question is a BROWN FIELD Site which means they had a right to have planning permmission there, Brown Field sites are fields that are passed by the Local Plan for future planning be it caravans, houses, industrial est's etc.. In this case the Council were being racist as they decided that because travellers wanted to live on this BROWN FIELD site they would break all the rules and refuse them planning permission. Prior to the travellers living there it used to be a scrap yard, and I beleive for as long as 30 years!!!!, hence, hence BROWN FIELD SITE. Would you make the same comments about our other ethnic groups in this Country??
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Load of rubbish! Yes you have more chance of getting planning for a dwelling on a brown site as opposed to green BUT it does NOT mean you can just build what you like or indeed set up a permanent camp. You have to get planning permission to build an extension on your own house or heighten or build a wall around your property - many applications are refused and IF someone did build outside the planning law then the council are within their rights to insist the build is demolished. You can though out through a retrospective planning application in some circumstances.

The Dale Farm situation was ridiculous. SOME had got planning so there was no issue but you can't then just move a few hundred more people on the site who then build essentially permanent homes without getting planning permission. They did not! I do not see how this is racist in any way and the people who decided to 'help' the travellers by chaining themselves to fances etc were idiots. WHY should the travellers get more rights than everyone else? You CAN'T just build anywhere you like otherwise we could all just do it couldn't we! that's the point of planning permission!

At the very most they could have been allowed to build a dwelling or a few dwellings on a site of an old building/derelict building (with permission) but that would usually stipulate you have to remain within the same dimensions as the previous structure.

It's ridiciculous anyone feels that was a racist act and that the travellers claimed they were being victimised. Rot.

Tell you what, you try build a house on a spare bit of land - see how long you get away with it for then how about claiming you are being victimised when asked to demolish it?! I really hope the Dale Farm situation has set a precedent to be honest and more action is taken against other illegal sites.
 
horseelady said:
I assume you are referring to Dale Farm?? In this case it was the Council that pulled a fast one as the land in question is a BROWN FIELD Site which means they had a right to have planning permmission there, Brown Field sites are fields that are passed by the Local Plan for future planning be it caravans, houses, industrial est's etc.. In this case the Council were being racist as they decided that because travellers wanted to live on this BROWN FIELD site they would break all the rules and refuse them planning permission. Prior to the travellers living there it used to be a scrap yard, and I beleive for as long as 30 years!!!!, hence, hence BROWN FIELD SITE. Would you make the same comments about our other ethnic groups in this Country??
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Big fat WRONG half the site was brownfield, the travellers on that part of the site were allowed planing permission. The other half (the half in question) was GREENFIELD.
 
Fii said:
I dont know when society changed for the worse but it definatly has!
Some years ago, it was safe to leave your doors unlocked, safe to walk down the road at night, and safe for teenagers to socialise together.
Some years ago gypsies lived and worked (yes worked) in relative peace with their neibhors (sp), a lot travelled the country, finding work and a place to stay, on the same farmers land each season.
Every bit of our society has changed for the worse, life isnt as safe as it once was, i am just as likely to be robbed, mugged, or much worse by a settled person as i am by a gypsy.
I think you have more to fear from some ferral teenager tbh!
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That is because years ago they were proper gypsies NOT Irish Travellers! There is a very real difference.
 
Amaranta said:
That is because years ago they were proper gypsies NOT Irish Travellers! There is a very real difference.
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And teenagers rarely went out armed with knives, my point was the whole of society has gone to the dogs, and sadly you can hardly trust anybody, not just one small part of the community!
 
Don't rely on your GSD to protect you. My local scrap metal man is now as worried about his dogs as his copper and diesel, he says they just poison the dogs these days:(
 
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