HUGE piles of waste have been cleared up from a park and ride site in Poole that was recently occupied by travellers.

Creekmoor councillor John Rampton (inset) said he visited the Marshes End site after the group’s eviction and found there had been “lots and lots of fly-tipping”.

Mounds of garden waste, rubble and other building material was left behind, as well as other miscellaneous domestic rubbish.

Cllr Rampton said human faeces was even found, despite the council providing portable toilets for the encampment. Skips were also supplied to the site, as per the council’s policy to minimise clear-up costs.

“I’ve seen the mess that’s been made. I went down to the site quite a few times while the travellers were camped there. There has been lots and lots of fly-tipping – rubble, green waste – and also domestic and human waste has been left behind – it’s extremely unpleasant. They’ve also damaged part of the site as a fence is broken.

“The council provided a skip and portable toilets, but the travellers didn’t use them.

“I think it’s very difficult to protect a site like the park and ride without making it like a fortress. We need some decent quality housing on the site – that’s what we should be looking at.”

The group of around 11 caravans and other vehicles set up camp at the park and ride on Saturday, April 13. They left on the Tuesday following the Easter weekend after BCP Council applied for an eviction order.

Jeff Morley, team manager of environmental services at BCP Council, said: “The clearance of the site has now been substantially completed by members of our team. We are monitoring the site and are reviewing the security arrangements.”

As reported in the Echo last week, fellow Creekmoor councillor Judy Butt said she had written to BCP Council’s chief executive, Graham Farrant, about the lack of permanent or transit sites for travellers in the conurbation.

She is calling for a pre-emptive injunction to ban unauthorised camps in the area while a suitable site for travellers is found.

Cllr Rampton said he was also hopeful the government would be introducing more legal powers to help councillors deal with camps.

“The dreadful behaviour of people staying at the site, the damage to property and the loss of its use during their stay give testament to the need for legal changes to help councils and police deal with these incidents,” he said.

“Last year, following a very robust consultation response by myself and environmental services, government have promised major changes to the law. We await with baited breath. Furthermore, as portfolio holder, last year I asked for legal advice from a London QC, Stephen Woolfe, on behalf of the new council concerning pre-emptive injunctions. These are currently becoming more attainable, and I asked then that BCP pursue this course. It would take some considerable time but may now be effective following recent precedents elsewhere.”

However, Betty Smith Billington, of Dorset-based Gypsy and Traveller campaign charity Kushti Bok, said injunctions banning Travellers were “discriminative”.

“Hopefully they will soon be made illegal if the Community Law Partnership win their case in Bromley,” she said.

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