Now departed along with another group who occupied Springfield Gardens

Ealing Common travellers: Liz Jenner

A group of travellers set up an encampment on Ealing Common earlier this week. After legal notice was served on them they moved away on Wednesday morning (26 July)

It is not known if this is the same group who have previously been in the borough or new members of the travelling community. A group in Springfield Gardens in Acton moved on this Tuesday and another camp in Brent Meadows in Hanwell also departed on Wednesday.

Ealing Council has previously dealt with groups situated at Ealing Common and more recently moved along caravans from Pitshanger Park and Gurnell Leisure centre.

A group encamped on Ealing Common this May and the previous year there was a lengthy legal battle to remove a group which resulted in them merely moving to the other side of the common. Persistent use of the common in this way has led to calls for measures to be taken to restrict access to the land for vehicles.

An Ealing council spokesperson said, ''Ealing Council officers work closely with Parkguard and the police to respond quickly to unauthorised encampments on council-owned land. There are procedures that we must follow and we begin them as soon as we become aware of an encampment, while closely monitoring the site to make sure it is kept tidy and doesn’t cause public health problems. Once these procedures are complete we can start the process to legally remove encampments.

“As is the case with many outer-London boroughs, we have found the number of encampments is increasing. This is a drain on scarce local resources and we find it as frustrating as local residents do, but we are obliged to consider each situation on its merits and we must operate within the law.

“We have responded to the increase by streamlining our processes and working closely with our colleagues in the Police and Parkguard to take back possession of the land as soon as is legally and practically possible. We have an official site in the borough specifically for travellers.”

July 26, 2017