Letter to Decision Makers - Petition - Thank you all for support.

 Start a petition Browse Search darryl magher  Your petition Dashboard Edit Petitioning Chief Executive Sandwell Council - Mr Jan Britton and 2 others Removal of Unauthorised Encampments on the Yew Tree & Delves darryl magher Walsall, United Kingdom Over recent years we have had encampments and the mess and aggro that came with them was a pain, the current encampments and people within them are very much more of a problem. We have had threats, stones thrown, threatening behaviour, riding of motos up and down streets in a reckless manner, cross country style driving over the fields, human excrement in wooded areas, music and noise at all times of the day. Dogs running loose and barking. There is now a burnt out vehicle on the Delves Green Common. Residents are getting very frustrated with the apparent lack of action, they are becoming very stressed and the communication to members of the community is poor. Children are frightened and being kept in, areas that would be normally used for play and recreation are not available to them. We have shops and businesses fed up of theft, threatening behaviour and have closed early or in the case of one shop looking to close all together until such time as the travellers have gone. This is not acceptable for a community to not be able to feel safe and not to be able to use open spaces and indeed find that shops may not be open. As there are clearly problems on the encampment regarding Anti Social Behaviour and Public Disorder we ask that the Police immediately use their wider powers granted under Section 61 and 62 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to remove all encampments currently on The Delves Green Common, the open space opposite Yew Tree School and the area of Walstead Rd commonly referred to as The Players. In addition to the removal of the Illegal Encampments we ask that the following be acted upon: 1. A "Deep Cleanse" of all areas, especially the wooded areas where travellers have used them as "toilets" and all excrement be removed. 2. To look at changing the kerbing on the areas affected to "High Containment" kerbs and a gate to deter further vehicle access. This will also allow for some meadowland management which would be an additional positive outcome for the community. 3. A Public meeting to be held with The Police, Sandwell & Walsall Council to discuss matters arising from the last few weeks. 4. A Review of the Joint Protocols between West Midlands Police and the relevant Council to ensure that the safety and safeguarding of the community is paramount at all times. 5. A full discussion at the Public meeting as to why Sections 61 and 62 were not enforced earlier. We look forward to hearing further on this matter and that the statutory duty of care for us all who live in the areas affected is fully maintained. This petition will be delivered to:Chief Executive Sandwell Council - Mr Jan Britton Chief Executive Walsall Council - Mr Paul Sheehan Chief Inspector West Midlands Police Read the letter  Letter to Chief Executive Sandwell Council - Mr Jan Britton Chief Executive Walsall Council - Mr Paul Sheehan Chief Inspector West Midlands Police Dear Sirs, I write this letter as it is our community wish to see all parties be involved in the resolution of the increasing issues and matters arising from illegal encampments. This affects us all on the Yew Tree (Sandwell) and The Delves (Walsall). Our local Councillor Chris Worsey has expressed his wish to work with us also. None of the other Councillors representing Great Barr & Yew Tree, Paddock or Palfrey responded, although we did have a “we are talking about it” from one. We have sent emails to Great Barr & Yew Tree, Palfrey and Paddock Neighbourhood Police Teams and also to Great Barr & Yew Tree and Palfrey Ward Councillors. At this point in time we have received no response or acknowledgment back from any of the Neighbourhood Teams although have received calls from Phil Dolby Local Policing (101 ext 851310) who I understand has been tasked with looking at “target hardening”. I have also received a call from Walsall Police and in all conversations it is clear that communication between Council/Police and the Community has been lacking. This is not what we as a community would expect. The petition online at: https://www.change.org/p/sandwell-council-removal-of-unauthorised-encampments-on-the-yew-tree-delves has 913 signatures and a further 438 signatures have been collected on paper copies. The press are aware of our petition and have been asked to be kept up to date. Please may we draw your attention also to the comments on this petition and other forums, newspaper articles which show the depth of tension and feeling that is held in the community. There needs to be action taken to alleviate these tensions. Please note that we have had to use a third party petition format as the e-petition module was not available for us to use on the Sandwell Council website. The contents of the petition and our requests are pretty clear and we ask for all of you to work with all of us to come to an outcome that will deter future encampments and restore some confidence in the community and also give the community reassurance. I have spoken to a number of enforcement officers and a way of deterring more would be to look at replacing the kerbs around these areas with High Containment Kerbs, with pedestrian access points and a gate to allow authority vehicles in. At the same time another positive outcome from deep cleansing the wooded areas, replacing the kerbs etc is an opportunity for meadow management and the development of wildflower strips, areas to backfill some areas where the kerbs will be and look and other areas around the wooded sections. Another positive outcome from changing the kerbs would be to deter parking outside of both the Yew Tree and Delves Schools. I’d be very happy to attend any meeting to discuss this solution. High Containment Kerb image: http://www.pavingexpert.com/images/kerbs/trief_01.jpg Security Solutions: http://www.exclusec.co.uk/ The matter of legislation needs to be looked at and the use of both section 61 and 62. These sections do give the Police wider powers where ASB and Public Disorder is prevalent. In the case of the recent traveller encampment it hasn’t just been prevalent it has been out of control. This needs to be reviewed in light of recent events and to ensure that the safety and safeguarding of the community is paramount. This petition is delivered in it’s entirety to the Chief Executive of Sandwell Council of whom we ask to take this petition further and work with Walsall Council, West Midlands Police and ourselves to progress a resolution that all parties are happy with. There could well be an opportunity for a pilot on both The Delves Green Common and open space opposite the Yew Tree School, it is an ideal opportunity to show how the Councils and Police can work with us in the community to resolve and hopefully come up with a working and sustainable outcome. I look forward to hearing from yourselves.