Devon council set to introduce new measures for traveller camps in local parks

A Devon council is set to launch a new ‘target hardening’ strategy to deal with unwanted traveller camps in local parks.

Teignbridge Council officers have just finished dealing with a group with more than a dozen vehicles parked on Newton Abbot’s Osborne Park. The group ignored warnings from the council threatening legal action.

More vehicles arrived, and tensions with local people rose. There were complaints about the behaviour of children on bikes, cars being scratched, doors being kicked, and loud music being played at night.

The council said it had to follow procedures and began the process by issuing a verbal warning to the travellers.

But now it has unveiled a new strategy which will be discussed at a meeting next week.

Between 2019 and 2024, 23 formal complaints were received about traveller encampments. In 2024 alone, eight encampments on council land went as far as court action.

Now members of the executive committee will be asked to agree to measures costing £73,200, which will come from the Section 106 payments made to the council by developers.

The new strategy will include physical barriers such as bollards, gates, earth banks, and trees at vulnerable parks such as Osborne Park, Courtenay Park, and Sandringham Park.

Osborne Park needs ‘tailored’ measures due to tree roots, underground services, and existing park use.

A report to the meeting says that a lack of formal transit sites in and around Teignbridge contributes to recurring problems with unauthorised encampments.

The council plans talks with local partners to explore the possibility of having temporary tolerated stopping places similar to those in Cornwall.

That would support travelling communities better as well as reduce enforcement costs.

Teignbridge will also look at options to allow it to respond to new arrivals faster